How great was Flash season one, or Arrow season three? Let me answer that for you… they were both amazing! Especially the lead ups and the season finales. For the Flash there was the death, or really not even the life of Eobard Thawne (The Reverse Flash), the coming of Gorilla Grodd, and the beginning of the ever popular Rogues. Then for Arrow you have an awesome storyline of Batman (Batman: Birth of the Demon), what with the whole “You are the next Ra’s” ordeal (thought we wouldn’t notice CW… but we did); Thea Queen dying, coming back to life, and then possibly becoming Speedy; and Malcom Merlyn becoming the new leader of the League of Assassins.
However, it is time to put all of that awesomeness aside and prepare for the next batch of seasons. This article will contain what I would want to see the most from Flash season two and Arrow season four, because it will totally make a difference. For Flash I will be discussing how Jay Garrick should train Barry in the ways of his speed (like a Padawan), hints to the future or different dimensions of Caitlyn and Cisco, MORE ROGUES, and how I would like Wally West to get his speedster powers on the show… not just show up with them. As for Arrow I want to see Diggle get more of his own role (courtesy of the Pillsbury Doughboy?), connections to other DC characters, a major follow-up with Merlyn and the League of Assassins, and the consequences of Thea going into the Lazarus Pit.
Diggle:
John Diggle has seemingly been the only constant in Oliver’s life over the past three years. From his initial hesitation to help Oliver, to becoming #2 in Team Arrow, to becoming a father Diggle has always had Oliver’s back. This season we want to see Diggle embrace more of the hero side of himself that we know he can be, I mean for goodness sakes he has his own costume. Also, we know his helmet makes him look like Blackneto but who cares, as he still looks pretty cool. On another note, how has no one realized that Oliver and Diggle are working together – they spend all their time together! Diggle has been foreshadowing his own hero role since season one of Arrow when he impersonated the “Hood” for Oliver to establish that he wasn’t the vigilante. It’s been a long time coming for Diggle and he now has this title, but what will he be called? Many, many people have been throwing around their ideas and what comic book character he looks like the most. Many are saying that he resembles Guardian and I would have to agree. Diggle personifies the Guardian character and I think he will get a name that is similar to that character. This season will also be interesting as Diggle’s priorities will be tested. Will Diggle choose to be more involved with his family or will he be dedicated to Team Arrow? Speaking of family, what ever happened to Diggle’s brother and H.I.V.E.? We need some explanation and tie-ins to Damian Darkh (yes, we know his name is spelled weird) and H.I.V.E. since he is one of its’ leaders. I think Darkh will have a confrontation with Diggle and remember that he had his brother killed, which will cause Diggle to go bezerk on him. We need to see some resolution with Diggle and his brother.
Connections to DC Characters:
We have been given an awesome line-up of DC characters on Arrow and we need more, even if they are minor characters or references to them. Mister Terrific is one that I am excited to see on the show. He is a genius who has a multitude of different skills and gadgets. He will be working for Palmer Tech, or whatever his company will be named, and will get some interactions with Felicity that will introduce him to team Arrow. I can’t wait to see what they do with his character. What other characters would be good additions to the Arrow family? My suggestions include The Question, Zatanna, and Blue Beetle (the Ted Kord version). There are many more but of the three I’ve listed I think that The Question is the most likely to make the cut. However, in the season 4 trailer we do see some bags behind Damian Darkh that have the name Kord on them which could indicate an appearance by Blue Beetle in the series. With the most recent news about a Blue Beetle/ Booster Gold team up movie that idea might be eliminated. Another character that has been a huge addition to the show is Nissa Al Ghul, but what about her half-sister Talia? Admittedly, Talia is more of a Batman character but we’ve already got Ra’s Al Ghul, so why not get some kind of reference to Talia. Many people have been making suggestions and theories about who is connected to whom on the show. The most popular one is the idea that Damian Darkh is Felicity’s father. Felicity said previously that her father has never been a part of her life and that he isn’t a good guy. As far as fan theories go this one isn’t too unreasonable. Lastly, we had some mentions in the previous season of Flash that a test pilot went missing at Ferris Airlines, which could bring Carol Ferris and/or Hal Jordan into the DC TV universe. Little references like this are good enough for some people (like me) and some want more; you be the judge.
Merlyn and the League of Assassins:
Merlyn is everybody’s favorite and least favorite character at times. John Barrowman is an amazing actor that can portray that cocky, loveable character. Although, as he is now the new (demon’s) head of the League of Assassins, how much will we see of him this season? Will he be focusing his operations internationally or still maintain a strong interest in Star City? If he does come back though, will he try and reconnect with Thea even though she wants nothing to do with him after what he had done to her in the previous season. I think that Merlyn will try and recruit Thea to join him and the League. Speaking of the League what about Oliver's recent marriage to Nyssa? How will all that play out? They are still contractually bonded by their vows on Nanda Parbat… awkward. However, this might be cause for Nyssa to come back into the line up. We know from the promos of Legends of Tomorrow that Merlyn may try to make amends with Team Arrow but using the Lazarus Pit to resurrect Sara back to life where she will take the name White Canary (the White Canary was a different character in the comics just so you know). I understand why Merlyn would want to make the offer to Oliver to resurrect Sara, but it might just be to get Thea to see that he does care about others. The League overall is going to be an interesting story arc because of our new villain, Damian Darkh. With the history between Darkh and The League, it would be epic to see a face-off between Darkh and Merlin, as the new leader of the organization. I really hope that there is a scene where Merlyn meets Darkh and Darkh is like "You're not Ra's. Who the h*** are you?" One can dream can't they…
Thea:
Thea has really grown up as a character over the past three seasons. Not to say that others haven't, but she has really come into her own, going from a former drug addict and party-girl to now a new potential hero. I say potential because of her recent dip in the Lazarus pit. For those of you who do not know the effects of the Lazarus pit the longer you are dead the more the pit affects you. Thea was dead for about a day so her effects shouldn't be too crazy, but we shall see. If she is going down the crazy path, Oliver might have to pull her from the line of duty (similar to how he handled Roy following the Mirakuroo). Considering they have given her a code name, Speedy, she will probably have to do something insane to be taken off. My guess is she will kill someone by the end of this season. However, let's also talk about the name for a second. Speedy is the name of another comic book character, Roy Harper. Yes, Roy was given the name Speedy when he started working with the Green Arrow in the comics. He was given that name because he was faster at drawing an arrow than Green Arrow. You heard me right, I didn’t stutter. However, he wasn't as accurate as Green Arrow. Hopefully they will use that name to do the same attributes with Thea. It is worth mentioning that in the comics there is another female archer as well named Mia Dearden. After a very troubled youth she was rescued by Oliver and turned into one of this sidekicks (somewhat similar to Thea’s troubled backstory). For now we will have Thea take the place of Roy and maybe…just maybe, we may see Roy make another appearance in this season. As a fan-favorite character, Roy will be greatly missed and it would please fans to give him a small cameo. It would be amazing if he came back and took up the name of Red Arrow, just saying.
Jay Garrick:
On this season of the Flash we are getting so many more speedsters than we did on season one. With the introduction of the likes of Wally West, Jesse Quick, Zoom, and my personal favorite Jay Garrick, we have a lot to look forward to. Why should everyone be excited about this, because Jay Garrick was the first person ever to dawn the title of The Flash! He will be more experienced than Barry and will be able to teach him quite a few things about his speed. I would love it if there would be a speed training montage and Barry would end up getting schooled by Jay. Also, I want to see them try to teach Barry how to phase. He did it in the Trickster episode (side note: that is one of the best episodes of season one), but he hasn't done it since then. By beginning the training sessions with a lot of trial-and-error, this could provide Barry with the opportunity to grow and develop as the season moves on. Barry can run fast but he needs to practice using his mind to make him run faster. That is something that comes with experience, henceforth Jay Garrick should teach him how to do this. Jay Garrick is obviously more experienced due to his age, but how much does he really know? With the introduction of Earth 2 characters, this could also bring into question what other dimensions could impact the series. And what about the introduction of time travel into the series? Will the show have issues that arise in tandem with the manipulation of the timeline. Also, with Jay’s vast experience, will he have the knowledge of how to manage all these potential conflicts of time and space?
Killer Frost and Vibe:
Aside from the metahumans of Central City there are some other interesting characters as well. Joe West is a personal favorite of mine and I think that Cisco and Caitlyn are two of the fan favorites on TV. Cisco makes every scene he is in his and Caitlyn makes you want to be her friend. What people don't know is that these two are not just people, they are one part hero and one part villain. Cisco as Vibe has sonic vibration manipulation, seismic powers, and molecular vibration; Caitlyn as Killer Frost can manipulate ice and frost. There powers are different but have some similarities. If they do introduce these characters will they be of Earth 1 or Earth 2? I wonder if they will make both of them heroes and or if they will be at odds considering Killer Frost is a villain. If they do develop their powers over the course of the season they will need to be trained to control it. They might even be labeled as meta humans by the public and Barry will have to defend them. I am feeling a war coming that will bring about losses on both sides. Cisco's brother is another factor that would should be brought back because we left him injured because of Captain Cold and he could want revenge. It would be an interesting story arc to have Caitlyn start out as a hero and then have some tragedy happen that made her switch sides. Ronnie could possibly be killed off and I’m sure that would mess with Caitlyn.
Rogues:
The Flash has some of the best villains in the Rogues Gallery. We have seen some of the more popular ones in season one with Captain Cold, Heatwave and many more. We haven’t seen all of his Rogues though. Let’s establish what we seen, what we are going to get, and what we want. We have seen Captain Cold, Heatwave, Pied Piper, Weather Wizard, Trickster, and Captain Boomerang. We have been hinted that we might get Mirror Master and that would be amazing. There are lesser known Rogues like Abra Kadabra (a master of sorcery) and Magenta (magnetic manipulation) that are stretches but if we were to ever see them it would be on TV rather than on the big screen. I think there will be some type of team up because of what happened last season with some of the meta-humans owing Captain Cold a favor for freeing them. Captain Cold could be established as the leaders of the Rogues. Although him and Heatwave are going to be leaving to join others on the newest show Legends of Tomorrow it gives us room to introduce more of the gallery to us. Mirror Master has led the Rogues before so if we get an introduction to him that gives us that room for those to leave. More or less, we want the Rogues and we want them now.
Wally West
Wally is the third person to take on the role of the Flash, but will he come into season two with the ability to run at super human speed like Barry? I think his origin should be the same as it was in the comics where he visits his uncles lab and gets dowsed in the same chemicals that gave Barry his powers. However, he ay be introduced as already having his powers. How could he possibly have super speed if we haven’t had any indication that he even exists? He could be introduced as another Earth’s Flash with him already having his speed. In the comics he is much more sarcastic and comical then Barry Allen, so he and Cisco should get along quite well. I’m also thinking that Cisco will design Wally’s suit if he gets his powers at some point. Wally is a founding member of the Teen Titans but I don’t think that he will be mentioning anything about that especially if he gets his powers at some point in season two. Some kind of nod to an acrobat from Blood Haven or a guy who can breathe under water is a far stretch but one can dream can’t they. For those of you who remember Linda Park and the small stretch of time she was dating Barry she is an important character in the comics. She is actually married to Wally so that would make for some fun and awkward moments. Lastly as I have stated about Wally being more laid back I think that there will be some kind of confrontation between Barry and Wally. Wally might get jealous that Barry is getting all the attention when they are both fighting crime. A good old family brawl would be an interesting thing to happen and lay the foundation for their relationship.
There you are, my opinions and suggestions for what I think would make sense for both shows. I think that we are in for something amazing that no one will see coming and it's gonna take the comic book world by storm. If you found something in this article you like or you wanna voice your own opinions share this with others and leave a comment down bellow. Also, let me know what you are most looking forward to in these upcoming shows. Stay super.