As an executive producer and writer on TV shows like Arrow and Legends of Tomorrow, Marc Guggenheim is frequently credited as the Arrowverse's creator. While that shared world's time is now winding down before The Flash's final season sends Grant Gustin's Scarlet Speedster running off into the sunset, Guggenheim leaves behind quite the legacy.
After all, he was in charge of the Crisis on Infinite Earths crossover event, something he argues in a recent blog post as a project that "would mainstream the concept of an interconnected multiverse" years before Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness came along.
Recalling that a friend told him he would be in high demand after the world saw that event, Guggenheim admits that nothing changed after it aired.
Expressing gratitude to the fans, he added, "Hollywood met everything we did with apathy...James Gunn announced that he assembled a 'writers room' to help chart out what the new 'DC Universe' under his and James Safran’s leadership is going to be. Suffice it to say, I am not among that group."
"I would have liked to have gotten at least a meeting," Guggenheim adds. "Not a job, mind you. A meeting. A conversation. A small recognition of what I’d tried to contribute to the grand tapestry that is the DC Universe. I’d only spent nine years toiling in that vineyard, after all."
"Simply put, the Arrowverse hasn’t led to any other gigs, so it feels - at least on a career level - that I really wasted my time."
We'd strongly recommend reading the entire blog post as the writer goes into greater detail about the lack of respect he feels the Arrowverse has received.
While he, and the rest of the creatives working on that world, did a great job, they were all held back by TV budgets and, to put it bluntly, TV actors. There are a lot of great moments and performances to look back on, sure, but if Guggenheim - one of the writers on 2011's Green Lantern movie - viewed the Arrowverse as a fast-track to the big time in Hollywood, we can't help but think he was being a little naive.
After all, Legends of Tomorrow wasn't exactly high-concept television akin to Watchmen or even WandaVision!
What do you guys think?