The CW has handed out renewals for a total of 13 shows for the 2020/2021 season. Amongst those series that will be returning will be the entirety of the ArrowVerse lineup, which includes Batwoman. The Ruby Rose-led DC adaptation will be coming back for season 2 following its debut last year. The CW's Nancy Drew has also been handed a season 2 order.
On the DC side of things, Black Lightning will return for season 4. That has worked out quite well for the network since the show was rescued after Fox passed on it. Meanwhile, Legends of Tomorrow and Supergirl will both be back for season 6. Lastly, The Flash will return for season 7, making it the longest-running DC show on the network, since Arrow is concluding its run this year. CW president Mark Pedowitz had this to say in a statement.
"These early orders for next season give our production teams a head start in plotting out story arcs and a jump on hiring staff, and this also provides us with a strong foundation of established, fan-favorite CW shows to build on for next season.
We've been thrilled with the creative direction of all three new series, and even though we are in the very early stages of our new full stack streaming strategy, which allows viewers to catch up on our new shows from the beginning, we're already seeing incredibly positive results from our multiplatform viewership for Nancy Drew and 'Batwoman.'"
On the new series front, Katy Keene has been given an additional 13 episode order ahead of its mid-season debut. The show is based on the world of Archie Comics and stars Lucy Hale, Ashleigh Murray, Jonny Beauchamp and Julia Chen. Speaking of Archie Comics, Riverdale will bring Archie Andrews and the gang back for season 5. Lastly, All American, Charmed, In The Dark, Legacies and Roswell, New Mexico will all be returning for season 3.
This is good news for The CW as it doesn't show too many weak spots in its current programming lineup. It also signifies that the network can continue its strong run of late, even with several key shows going off the air. Aside from Arrow, which kicked off the ArrowVerse, the YA hit The 100 and Supernatural, one of the longest-running shows on all of TV, are also ending after this season. The CW is currently looking at a possible Arrow spin-off, which will air as a backdoor pilot during the show's current season. They have tried several times in the past to make a Supernatural spin-off, but it never quite panned out.
The network didn't reveal specific premiere dates for the shows that have been renewed but promised that they will be announced at a later date. We'll be sure to keep you posted as further details on the 2020/2020 CW programming slate are made available. This news was announced by The CW.