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6 DC Characters I’d Like to See on ‘Arrow’
Even though they couldn’t make a Justice League movie to save their own asses, DC Comics has mastered bringing its superheroes to the small screen. They’ve got a robust and popular direct-to-DVD animated market, decades worth of quality cartoons and some of the best live action superhero television shows of all time. Smallville got 10 seasons out of the early years of Clark Kent. That’s very impressive.
Now they’re going to try again for another hit with Arrow on the CW.
Because apparently ‘Green’ is a 4-letter word
Ostensibly based on the character Green Arrow, somebody somewhere decided to drop the whole ‘Green’ part of his name. Not cool enough for modern audiences, I guess? Didn’t seem to hurt when Green Arrow was a major character on Smallville. Anyway, color coordination aside, Arrow is going to be a gritty, urban show about a street-level vigilante fighting crime. The previews have looked pretty awesome so far, and I’m excited. I’m even more excited about all of the superhero cameos the show is going to feature.
So being the comic book geek that I am, I started thinking about what characters I’d like to see appear on Arrow. There is one ground rule through, established by the producers themselves: no powers. With that ground rule in place, here are the 6 DC characters I’d like to see cameo in Arrow.
The New Justice League of America
Even though Justice League: International crashed and burned, DC Comics is going to try again with a brand new Justice League of America team. Apparently it’s going to run concurrent with the Justice League series that already exists. Because as the Marvel marketing department will tell you, why bother coming up with an original superhero team name when you can just re-use a name that is already a proven seller?
Behold the new team lineup!
Additional member: Catwoman’s cleavage
At the very least, this new team is spinning out of the ongoing story in Justice League. When Superman, Wonder Woman, Batman, Flash, Aquaman and the rest banded together into a team in the New 52, they did so on their own, with no government oversight or control. And there has been an ongoing story about how the U.S. government is a little skittish about the fact that this supremely powerful team of superheroes isn’t beholden to anyone.
So it looks like the government is putting together their own version of the Justice League.
The new line-up: Martian Manhunter, Catwoman, Green Arrow, Katana, Hawkman, Vibe, Steve Trevor, Stargirl and Baz, the new Arab-American Green Lantern.
Here’s what writer Geoff Johns had to say about the team:
The idea of why the JLA forms, and what it is, and what it’s in reaction to… It kind of spins out of Justice League #12; what happens in that, and then subsequent issues, because JLA comes out next year some time. But the book itself is a group of heroes that aren’t necessarily coming together because they want to be together… They’ve been selected specifically. They all want, or need something that Steve Trevor, and the other person behind the scenes that’s in charge of this team can provide.
The first arc is going to deal with something they learn is called The Secret Society of Super-Villains. It’s specific because its run by A.R.G.U.S. They have a team they feel they can now control. Whether or not that ends up being the case is up for debate.
You can read the full interview at Mtv Geek. Because when I think of geek culture, I think Mtv.
As for my personal opinion…I dunno. I think it’s too soon to be doing something like this. We’re barely more than a year into the New 52 reboot, and the Justice League title has barely had any time to settle itself. It’s a good enough comic, but I don’t think it’s as strong as it could be. Adding something like this for it to contend with is too much too soon. It’s like DC doesn’t think they have any time to let anything grow. They did this big reboot of their universe, and now they still have the modern day mentality that they’ve got to just push and push and push more stuff out the door to keep fans happy. They won’t let anything settle or simmer.
So I dunno. Maybe it’ll work, maybe it won’t. Justice League Dark is still selling. But Justice League International got cancelled. So we’ll see what happens when this new book comes out next year some time.
At the very least, the name is a little dumb. The names ‘Justice League’ and ‘Justice League of America’ are synonymous in the minds of the fans. Applying them to two different teams is going to get a little confusing.
Green ‘Arrow’ Show to Have Cameos Right Away
Holy cow, you guys, the new superhero TV show Arrow is not going to waste any time in bringing other DC heroes and villains to the small screen. This is fantastic news, exactly what we superhero geeks want to hear. The best episodes of Smallville were always the ones that guest starred other famous superheroes. But it took them until Season 4 to start doing that, and even then they didn’t appear all that often.
While Arrow, new this fall on the CW, is going to start having cameos galore in only the first handful of episodes! Clearly the people behind Arrow know exactly what the fans liked about Smallville.
The Huntress is going to appear around episode 6 for a multi-episode story, and will even be a love interest to Arrow.
Hopefully they don’t paint her mask on
According to Entertainment Weekly, the Huntress will be played by Jessica De Gouw. She’ll be the Huntress that appeared before the New 52 relaunch, where she was secretly Helena Bertinelli, daughter of Italian mobsters who became a costumed vigilante in order to bring down her crime family. So she’s perfect to appear alongside another urban vigilante like Arrow.
Here is how the show describes the Huntress:
“Helena is a potential love interest for Oliver Queen; a fellow vigilante, set on destroying her father’s organized crime empire. But Helena’s blind pursuit of revenge will put her on a collision course with the Arrow.”
That’s pretty awesome. Huntress is quite cool, and would fit perfectly in the urban vigilante environment.
In the villain department, so far we have Deathstroke, Deadshot and China White all confirmed as appearing. Deathstroke the Terminator is one of the greatest, toughest mercenaries in the world. I don’t think he’s been cast yet, but the producers have confirmed his little Easter Egg tease in one of the show’s trailers. Deadshot will be played by Michael Rowe, and I’m really excited by him. Deadshot is the world’s greatest gunman. China White will be played by Kelly Hu. She’s the leader of a drug cartel who met Arrow while he was marooned on a desert island.
Deadshot makes guns look cool
And that’s not all! We already know that Dinah Lance, Black Canary, will be a main character on the show. She has always been Green Arrow’s on-again, off-again girlfriend in the comics. But Producer Mark Guggenheim has hinted at other superheroes showing up eventually. Heroes like Batman. Or even Green Arrow’s comic book sidekick Speedy. And you know how much I love sidekicks!
So yeah, it looks like Arrow is turning out to be geekier and cooler than I ever thought possible! How awesome is that?
See? Something for the ladies as well
Why Do People Think Face Paint is Better than Superhero Mask?
The CW’s Arrow show is set to premiere on Oct. 10, based on the life and heroics of Oliver Queen, the Green Arrow. For some reason, Arrow is going to paint the mask over his eyes instead of wearing an actual mask. What the hell is that about?
What’s that thing on his face!?
Why does nobody realize how stupid that looks? The hood, fine, that works as a modern, realistic interpretation of a superhero costume. But who has the time to go to the trouble of painting a mask over your eyes? And how does that protect his identity better than an actual mask? Check out Robin from Batman Forever and see how easy it would be to just use a big domino mask.
Though ignore the rest of the costume…
And it’s not like this is the only time someone at The CW has thought that painting a mask on someone’s face worked better than an actual mask. Behold the Black Canary from Smallville. Black Canary doesn’t even wear a mask in the comics, but someone decided to paint one on her face anyway!
You just look ridiculous, lady
It just looks so stupid. And whenever Arrow takes off his hood and is just his normal face, he’s going to look ridiculous. I’m only going to be able to focus on how silly he looks. That’s not exactly the menacing sort of look that a vigilante superhero wants to go for.
But anyway, check out this cool new promo for Arrow!
Another Day, Another Green ‘Arrow’ Trailer!
This is a full trailer, whereas the last video I shared was more of an actual clip. This trailer has scenes from throughout the show, and explain the story more in depth. I gotta say, I’m definitely still liking the look and feel of this show. Though I hope you all don’t mind if I just keep calling him ‘Green Arrow’ instead of just ‘Arrow’, because I am not a corporate hack who doesn’t understand how this sort of thing works.
And considering how rare it is to get a live action superhero TV show – which is surprising, considering The Avengers movie has made a BAJILLION DOLLARS – I figure I’ll try and give this show as much coverage as possible. So stay tuned!
Henchman-4-Hire 