This weekend brought a lot of news about the upcoming seasons of DC Comics’ expanding slate of television series. Here’s a quick recap of the most important pieces of information:
“Arrow”
- Oliver Queen will be using the moniker “Green Arrow” in season four; this is also the title of the first episode of that season.
- He’s got a new costume, seen above, awfully similar to his duds in the current comic books.
- John Diggle will be getting his own costume of sorts, he joked that his code name would be “Black Driver.”
- Thea Queen’s code name is “Speedy,” something we’ve all been waiting for since season one.
- The Batman character “Anarky” will be appearing on the series this season. In the comics he’s been a morally ambiguous character along the lines of Huntress — a vigilante fighting for good against government corruption, but who often goes a Little Too Far.
- The Justice Society of America character “Mr. Terrific” will be working with Felicity; he’s been called the “smartest man in the world,” is African American, and in this iteration, gay. He was an interesting character on “Justice League Unlimited,” it’ll be cool to see what they do with him in Starling City.
- Damien Darhk is the Big Bad for the season, and has been cast as Neal McDonough; Darhk is a former rival to Ra’s Al Ghul and a leader of the HIVE organization.
“The Flash”
- Jay Garrick will be in season two, and will be played by Teddy Sears.
- Wally West will also be in season two, but casting hasn’t been announced yet.
- Renee Ciara’s Kendra Saunders will be introduced in “The Flash” before spinning off to become Hawkgirl in “DC’s Legends of Tomorrow.” We saw her briefly on the season finale; we’ll get her story started on “The Flash.”
- Season two’s Big Bad will be Zoom, a guy with similar powers to Reverse Flash (in fact, I always thought they were the same guy), but who’s faster than either Barry or Reverse Flash.
- Nobody’s talking about whether or not we’ll see Cisco become Vibe, or Caitlin become Killer Frost in season two, although both actors really really want us to.
“DC’s Legends of Tomorrow”
- The characters who will become the team in “Legends of Tomorrow” will be seeded throughout the first half of the seasons of both “Arrow” and “The Flash,” before being united in the new series midseason.
- Hawkman will be on the series at some point, although which version and how he interacts with the Kendra Saunders Hawkgirl remains to be seen.
- Hawkgirl’s past lives (she’s been reincarnated several times) may play into the time travel plots of the series.
- Sara Lance (who really was dead) will be resurrected via Lazarus Pit on “Arrow.”
- It’s verrrry likely that Jay Jackson (Franz Drameh) is the other half of Firestorm. We know Firestorm will be part of the new team, and we know that Robbie Amell isn’t on the new series. So…yeah. Expect some kind of change to happen to Ronnie Raymond pretty soon.
“Supergirl”
- Maxwell Lord, a businessman who’s historically both helped and hindered the Justice League (but helping them to his own ends)(and eventually murdering Blue Beetle)(I’m still not over that, and it was like 2007) has been cast as Peter Facinelli, and will be a rival to Kara’s boss.
- There wasn’t much other brand new news, but I was reminded that Dean Cain of “Lois and Clark” and Helen Slater of “Supergirl” are playing Kara’s adoptive parents the Danvers, which makes me very happy in a Know Your Nerd Heritage way.
“Gotham”
- “The first season was about the end of the old Gotham, the end of the Mafia running the show. The second season will be about the rise of the crazed villains the city is known for.”
- Penguin will keep his recently gained throne, but his kingdom’s another matter.
- Alfred will be speeding up Baby Batman’s education in the ways of the Force, and we finally get into what’s under Wayne Manor. Five bucks says it’s a cave.
- Cameron Monaghan’s murderer Jerome has been pretty much confirmed as the Joker.
“Vixen”
- This six episode animated series premieres on CW Seed in August, and is set within the “Arrow” – “The Flash” – “Legends of Tomorrow” universe.
- Actors Stephen Amell, Grant Gustin, and Carlos Valdes all appear in the pilot episode. Or…their voices appear.
- The lead is played by Megalyn Echikunwoke.
- The trailer’s below. Watch it, dig it.