One of the staples of The CW’s Arrowverse of DC Comics-inspired TV shows has been the annual crossover. Once between just Arrow and The Flash, the crossover grew as the lineup of Arrowverse series expanded, with last year’s Crisis on Infinite Earths crossover spanning five series (plus a sixth if you include the ‘red skies’ tie-in on Black Lightning). The upcoming year of Arrowverse series will look a little different, though, thanks to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, and one of the effects is a big one: as reported by EW, there will be no Arrowverse crossover in 2021.

In May a planned crossover between Batwoman and the upcoming Superman & Lois series was announced, which may or may not have featured characters from other series as well. A lot has changed since then, though, including the departure of Ruby Rose from the former series, the casting of Javicia Leslie as new Batwoman Ryan Wilder, and the delay of the return of all of The CW’s series as a result of the pandemic, which still at this point has no real end in sight. Earlier this week Batwoman showrunner Caroline Dries confirmed to EW that the smaller crossover had been scrapped.

The cancellation of this year’s Arrowverse crossover is not a huge surprise, given the production restrictions in place in order for the series to safely film amid the pandemic. It also makes a little sense that The CW would have dialed back on the crossover after the absolutely massive Crisis event, which was essentially the Arrowverse’s equivalent of Avengers: Infinity War/Endgame, bringing all the characters together against an existential threat to reality and fundamentally changing the shape of the universe going forward. There’s really no way to one-up that.

Still, it’s a little disappointing that there’ll be no crossover this year. It’s always fun to see all of the characters from the different shows bounce off of each other, and with her series set to conclude after the end of its upcoming sixth season, who knows if we’ll have another opportunity for Melissa Benoist‘s Supergirl to team with the rest of the universe’s heroes. Maybe she’ll pop in to Central City for an ice cream cone with Grant Gustin‘s Barry Allen.The production safety restrictions in place due to the pandemic have scuttled plans for a BATWOMAN/SUPERMAN & LOIS crossover.

The Arrowverse officially returns with the season premiere of Batwoman on Sunday, January 17th. Black Lightning, The Flash, and the series premiere of Superman & Lois will follow in February, while Supergirl and Legends of Tomorrow will return later in the year.