Catching up with CW’s ‘Arrow,’ ‘The Flash,’ and ‘DC’s Legends of Tomorrow”

In between San Diego Comic Con and the beginning of filming their new seasons, we’ve learned a few more things about DC Comics’ television slate. Mostly about casting, with a few pieces of plot information thrown in for good measure.

 

“Arrow” Season Four

Green Arrow Costume

 

Toward the end of Season Three, events conspired to make the citizens of Starling City believe that the vigilante known as “the Arrow” was dead. So when Oliver Queen returns to the city and picks up where he left off, he’ll officially be known as “Green Arrow,” which geeks have been wanting to see since the show was announced. With the name, he gets spiffy new duds, which look like a little more kevlar than leather, and with exposed arms because with arms like that, why wouldn’t you? It’s how all of my shirts look.

 

Casting-wise, here’s what’s going down:

 

Neal McDonough as Damien Darhk

 

The “big bad” for Season Four is Damien Darhk (hate typing that so much). He’ll be played by actor Neal McDonough. Darhk  was a rival for Ra’s Al Ghul, and in the comics is head of an organization called H.I.V.E. (Hierarchy of International Vengeance and Extermination). I like McDonough, and he’s a strong enough actor that he can take on Oliver Queen. Great choice, even if I’d rather see him playing someone whose name isn’t spelled so ridiculously. “Darhk.” Guh. 

 

Echo Kellum

 

Helping out our heroes will be Curtis Holt, AKA “Mister Terric,” played by Echo Kellum. There have been a few iterations of Terrific in the comics, lately he’s the Smartest Man in the World, and is a technology-based superhero. In “Arrow” he’s going to be working alongside Felicity a lot, although it’s not clear if that’s in the Arrowcave or in some other capacity. He’s also gay, which brings some additional diversity to the series. 

 

More “Arrow” casting:

  • Ryan Robbins as “Conklin,” agent of Shadowspire, which will be a criminal organization featured in flashback
  • Jimmy Akingbola as “Baron Reiter,” back in the day he was a Nazi agent named “Blitzkrieg,” he’s also in flashbacks
  • Jeri Ryan as “Jessica Danforth,” a poltician in Starling City with ties to the Queen family
  • Alexander Calvert as “Anarky,” an amoral vigilante who will do anything to further his goals

 

“The Flash” Season Two

The Flash Season Two Poster

 

Flash also gets an updated costume, but it looks like it’s just putting a white circle as the background on his lightning bolt emblem. Producers have said that this season starts out in a bad place for Barry, who saved Central City…but the real hero was the now-dead Eddie Thawne. Barry’s going to have some issues…hopefully he’ll be able to move forward. 

 

Some casting news for “The Flash”:

 

Teddy Sears

 

Teddy Sears is playing Jay Garrick, the original Flash from the 1940s in the comics. It was his shiny winged helmet that popped out of the time vortex in the season finale, so we knew he’d be in the mix somewhere. We always call Garrick “Geezer Flash” around our house, but with this casting, looks like we’ll be getting some version of Jay in his prime.

 

Shantel VanSanten

 

Shantel VanSanten is playing Patty Spivot, a police scientist in the Central City Police Department. She’ll be working alongside Barry in the crime lab. In the comics, she’s currently Barry’s love interest. Something to serve as a distraction for the whole Iris thing. Hopefully Spivot will be a better character than that.

 

Other than the casting of Michael Ironside as Lewis Snart (Captain Cold and Golden Glider’s abusive father), there hasn’t been much news about actors. However, producers have said that Professor Zoom would be the “big bad” for Season Two, and that we’d be seeing Wally West before the end of the season. Neither role has been cast yet. Zoom is described as being faster than either Barry or Reverse Flash; I always thought Zoom and Reverse Flash were the same person. They’re both really fast, both have a yellow version of the Flash costume. I dunno. Wally West becomes another Flash — first Barry’s sidekick Kid Flash, later a hero in his own right. 

 

EXCEPT LEGIT BREAKING NEWS — producers just announced the casting of Keiynan Lonsdale as Wally West. He’s known in tween circles from “Insurgent.” But then this pic of Lonsdale was so Kid Flashy I had to use it:

 

Keiynan Lonsdale

 

We don’t know yet when Wally will become a true sidekick with superheroey duds, but you can bet they’ll be based on the “New 52” version of Kid Flash’s costume, which is this:

 

Wally West as Kid Flash

 

“DC’s Legends of Tomorrow” Season One

Legends of Tomorrow Poster

 

The new team-up series isn’t premiering until 2016, but several characters are going to be introduced in “The Flash” and “Arrow” before the first season of “Legends of Tomorrow” officially starts. We already know Firestorm and the Atom, Captain Cold and Heat Wave. We need to find out more about White Canary, and we caught a glimpse of Hawkgirl-to-be Kendra Saunders in the closing minutes of “The Flash” season finale. Just this week we got two more important pieces of casting news:

 

Casper Crump

 

The big bad for the season (and possibly the entire series) is Vandal Savage. He’s immortal, has been around for 6,000 years, and is responsible for some of the most heinous events in human history. He must be stopped. He’s going to be played by Danish actor Casper Crump. Based on the concept art above, he certainly looks the part. I hope he’s evil. 

 

Falk Hentschel

 

Hawkman is going to be actor Falk Hentschel (sidenote; “Falke” is German for falcon or hawk…so that’s serendipitous). Hawkgirl is a series regular, Hawkman may be a recurring character. It would make sense. This hero has what may be the most convoluted, confusing, and generally effed up history in all of comicdom. This version is an Egyptian prince, cursed to be reincarnated (and then killed) over and over again. He’s got powers of the Egyptian god Horus, and some kind of connection to Kendra Saunders (Hawkgirl) that she may or may not want. 

 

Both Hawkman and Vandal Savage will be introduced in the “Arrow”/”The Flash” crossover episodes. That was episodes 8 or 9 last season…so we may get to see what’s going on around December. 

 

“Vixen” Limited Series

 

Vixen Poster

 

Before the new seasons start up in October, we’ve got “Vixen,” a six episode limited series on CW Seed. It debuts August 28th, and features the voices of Stephen Amell and Grant Gustin reprising their roles as Arrow and the Flash. Plus Cisco and probably others. It could be fun. I’ll remind you later.