CW's Super Hero Producers Tease Four-Show Crossover, Coming Out Storyline

The CW is preparing for its most action-packed season of superheroes yet.

Now that Supergirl has joined the network's fall schedule, the Arrow-verse (the unofficial/official name for the DC Comics' based shows) will take over four nights of The CW's weekly lineup. Of course, the first order of business will be to bring Supergirl into the same dimension/channel as The Flash, Arrowand DC's Legends of Tomorrow, which executive producers discussed during their panel at the Television Critics Association fall previews on Thursday.

But as it turns out, all of National City and Kara's (Melissa Benoist) friends and family won't be integrated into the same dimension as Barry Allen (Grant Gustin) and the rest of the universe. It will only be Kara that makes the journey between worlds.

"We have a means of how we're going to deal with her entering the crossovers. She'll be coming to our universe -- Universe Prime -- that we all share. Connecting those two is not something we've talked about, to be honest," said executive producer Greg Berlanti.

Catch up on all the latest news from TCA

Berlanti also explained that integrating Supergirl in the aftermath of the show's move to The CW has the same problem as when it was on CBS last season: Superman. The Man of Steel, who will be played by Teen Wolf's Tyler Hoechlin in Supergirl's second season, has never been mentioned in the Arrow-verse thus far, and introducing the Kryptonian history to three other shows is no easy feat.

"With Supergirl comes Superman, and none of our characters in our shows in the universe we've created have talked about Superman. I think we would maybe deal with that and how he integrated too, because it's a significant thing," Berlanti said. "We've got other more pressure things [right now]."

Here's what else you can expect from the "Arrowverse" this fall:

- The Flash and Supergirl will stage a musical episode in the back half of the season. You can read more on that here. It is not to be confused with the previously-announced four-show crossover that will unite each of the The CW's DC Comics series.

- The four-show crossover will air over four nights, starting with Supergirl -- which will only be "touched on" by the crossover -- before beginning in earnest the next night on The Flash.

- One of the shows -- producers declined to say which one -- will find a "significant" character experimenting with their sexuality, and ultimately coming out as gay. Given there are already a number of LGBT characters on the four shows, fans' speculation engines are already going wild... Any guesses?

- There will be a lot of new faces across all the series. Lance Henriksen will appear on DC's Legends of Tomorrow as Justice Society of America member Obsidian, and CW favorite Chris Wood, who has appeared on The Carrie Diaries, The Vampire Diaries, and last season's Containment, is confirmed to be playing Mon-El on Supergirl. Meanwhile, Sharon Leal has been cast as Miss Martian.

- Arrow's beleaguered flashbacks remain in Season 5, though it is confirmed this will be the final season of flashbacks. This season they will be set in Russia, and Dolph Lundgren will appear as a villain. The show's fifth episode will also introduce the character of Vigilante.

- Director Kevin Smith's duties will expand this season to include Supergirl. Smith directed The Flash's Season 2 episode "The Runaway Dinosaur," which saw Barry trapped within the Speed Force. Smith will direct another episode of The Flash this season, too.

- Executive producers have announced that Season 3 of The Flash will introduce another new speedster villain. This time it will be Savitar. No casting has been announced.

(Full disclosure: TVGuide.com is owned by CBS, one of The CW's parent companies)