Folks wondering about whether or not the rapidly expanding DC Universe on display week after week on Arrow might have any bearing on Warner Bros. big screen plans for a Justice League movie may take heart. Greg Berlanti isn't saying no. Then again, he isn't exactly saying yes, either.
“We haven't had any of those conversations other than to say, what characters are we allowed to use this year and advocate or request certain ones that are of interest to us,” Berlanti told Fandango. “And every now and then, they'll say, 'You can't have that guy.' They don't say why, and we figure out why later on…When it comes out naturally, that's when it's best. And that's been the fate of Arrow, and I guess that's the path we'll follow.”
So far, there hasn't been too many issues of the show "sharing" characters with the movies, but that may change when Batman vs. Superman or Justice League hit cinemas. The Flash is not only about to become a recurring character on Arrow, but he's going to get his own series...and then there are those Nightwing rumors that popped up around the show recently, and the continued presence (at least in name) of a certain Batman villain and his offspring.
The idea of Warner Bros. telling the Arrow folks that some characters are off-limits could mean two things. Either they're still uncomfortable with having two simultaneous live-action incarnations of their biggest properties coexisting on the small and big screens (which famously kept Bruce Wayne off of Smallville), or they just want to make sure that certain characters get the big screen, big star treatment before the show has its turn with them. It all sounds very complicated. And while it's unlikely that Arrow exists in the same continuity as Man of Steel and any potential Justice League movie, it's still not impossible, either.
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Then why did they come back on their 'no powers' rule? And why did they include the Ferris logo from 'Green Lantern' and ARGUS at the end of Season 1, and all those (the new) 52 references, the League of Assassins with Ra's Al Gul and the half sister of Tallia Al Gul, Bludhaven and STAR Labs (which HQ is in Metropolis and has been seen there in 'Man of Steel') in Season 2? Not to mention the big one: The Flash! Who certainly will be part of the Justice League.
Reading this back, Arrow might have more DC easter eggs than Agents of SHIELD has had Marvel easter eggs in half a season while firmly in the MCU.