Even as this past fall’s four-way CW crossover took place on only three series, it’s hard to imagine how the combined likes of Supergirl, Flash, Legends of Tomorrow and Arrow top a worldwide alien “Invasion!“ Well, producers are working on just that, claiming this fall’s true four-way crossover event “can’t increase the bombast,” but will go emotional instead.

Decades of DC canon have no shortage of galactic or time-splitting crises that could power another round of CW team-ups, but from a live-action standpoint, armies of CG invaders can feel repetitive (just ask The Avengers). As such, Arrow boss Marc Guggenheim hinted to Entertainment Weekly (h/t HeroicHollywood) that the next meeting of Supergirl, Flash, Legends and Arrow wouldn’t replicate the same scale, but rather mine other sources of drama:

Every year we feel the pressure and I do feel like each crossover has topped the previous one. Topping last year’s [crossover] is a high bar, if for no other reason than what do you do that is bigger than aliens? We got some, I think, very, very exciting ideas. I would say, very early on in the process in actually doing last year’s crossover, Greg [Berlanti] said that ‘there’s probably no way to get bigger than aliens’. So the best way to make this year’s crossover especially epic is, if you can’t increase the bombast, increase the emotional stakes and the emotional pay-offs. A very oblique comment on where our heads are at for this season.

Granted, that isn’t the only change in store for the next crossover, as the November event will make use of all four series, rather than hijack the final moments of that week’s Supergirl. Also of note, The CW’s fall 2017 schedule means the event will begin on Monday’s Supergirl, continue through Tuesday’s Flash and Legends of Tomorrow, take Wednesday off, and conclude in Arrow’s new Thursday 9:00 P.M. timeslot.

Certainly one could trace an MCU influence to the crossover events, with the two-part Legends introduction paying repeat homage to Age of Ultron, while “Invasion!” evoked The Avengers’ rooftop alien battle. As long as we’re going emotional, could a certain Civil War be next? Hmm …

In the meantime, stay tuned for the latest on all four DC dramas (five, if we count Black Lightning) on deck for The CW later this year.

More From ScreenCrush