Tag Archives: Oliver Queen

Flash is In, Wonder Woman is Out. What About Booster Gold?

During the Arrow Comic-Con panel, we found out some of the guest stars coming to the show, like Bronze Tiger and Brother Blood, but today the big name was announced. It is none other than Barry Allen himself, The Flash!

Barry Allen as the FlashAt their Television Critics Association presentation, The CW president Mark Pedowitz made public the plans to bring Flash to the small screen starting with an appearance on the already hugely popular Arrow. There were quite a few mentions of Coast City during the first season so there were many, including myself, who thought that perhaps the next “big” name to come to Starling City would be Green Lantern.

Well, we were wrong. Just like we were wrong when we assumed there would be no Flash until the Flash feature film came about in 2016.

Wrong, wrong, wrong.

Barry Allen will roll into Starling City for three episodes before embarking on his own series. He will be introduced in episode 8, then appear in episodes 9 and 20, and then will go off and do his own thing. Writing the Flash episodes will be the crack team of executive producers Andrew Kreisberg and Greg Berlanti, along with DC author and now frequent Arrow writer Geoff Johns. Episode 20 will be directed by David Nutter, who directed the series pilot last year.

The odd part about all of this is Warner Bros. and DC are not planning on having the already somewhat established TV universe have anything to do with the proposed and hopefully successful cinematic universe. I understood that decision when it was just Stephen Amell’s Green Arrow because the show does have the “no superpowers and/or metahumans” stance, but now that Flash is coming along? Granted they are saying that when Barry Allen and Oliver Queen meet up Allen won’t be Flash but still, the show about the Fastest Man Alive is getting a soft launch from one without any superpowers. Unless they cast Usain Bolt as Barry Allen, I’m calling bull. Actually, they are beginning the casting process this week so maybe it is Usain Bolt.

The Flash

Another thing we (okay, maybe this was just me) were wrong about? Holding out any hope for the Wonder Woman series to ever make it to air. CW President, Mark Pedowitz, announced yesterday during the same presentation that the Wonder Woman project, Amazon, was on pause.

Excuse me as I roll my eyes in epic fashion. It’s on pause? Did anyone ever press play? Even when we last spoke about the Wonder Woman television series, it was all still speculation and rumor. This whole “pause” business is just irritating. Rip off the Band-Aid Mark, just do it already.

I get that Wonder Woman is a difficult character to try and build a franchise around. Almost every Wonder Woman fan will agree to that. The invisible jet, the different planet, the Lasso of Truth… it’s all a bit fantastic and might be too fantastic to make a TV series out of, outside of the campy 70s. However, either do it or don’t, but stop stringing us along.

Booster Gold on the CW

Speaking of stringing along… What happened to Booster Gold? When Arrow premiered, Andrew Kriesberg was still talking up the Booster Gold series. I got my hopes up. Thought that for sure one of the men behind this great new show would want to do every thing in his power to bring one of his favorite characters to life in a live action setting. Instead we’ve heard nothing about Booster Gold and when Greg Berlanti was asked why Flash was getting a series, he said it was because Flash was one of his favorite characters growing up! Ugh, I just can’t win.

Caity Lotz gif via confessionsofheart
Caity Lotz gif via confessionsofheart

The last bit of Arrow news coming out of TCA, we now know who Caity Lotz is playing. We saw her in the Arrow season two sizzle reel, but there was no indication who her character was beyond “the origin story for Black Canary”. Well get this, Sarah Lance is still alive and she’s returning to Starling City thanks to Caity Lotz. If the Tommy/Laurel/Oliver love triangle was messy, I can’t even imagine how dysfunctional Ollie stuck between two sisters is going to be.

Despite my irritation, this is exciting news. As a DC fan it’s easy to look at the Marvel cinematic success and be jealous, but Arrow and the new Flash show (and Booster Gold and Wonder Women if they ever get made) are all part of a long and storied history of DC characters on the small screen. They are doing well, so here’s hoping they continue to do well…

By giving me a Booster Gold show.

SDCC 2013: Arrow Season Two Sizzle Reel, Plus Highlights of the Comic-Con Panel!

Let’s start right off with the Arrow season two sizzle reel. Now, if you have not seen all of Arrow season one, you might want to skip this as it has a lot of spoilers in it. A lot, a lot.

So much action packed into so little time! Taken from footage of the season premiere, we get a good look at Summer Glau as Isabel Rochev.
Arrow Season Two Sizzle Reel

As exciting as that is, I think we all echo Roy Harper’s question to the mysterious blonde in a mask (Caity Lotz as not Black Canary), “Where the hell did you come from?” Of course this Arrow season two sizzle reel didn’t answer any big questions, like who exactly Caity Lotz’s character is, but we do see Oliver Queen make the beginnings of his move from “the Vigilante” to actually being called Arrow. As Marc Guggenheim said in this interview, they are moving from Hood Guy, to Arrow, to ultimately Green Arrow.

Arrow season two sizzle reel

Same with Black Canary apparently. Laurel will eventually be Black Canary but she needs to start on that journey and Caity Lotz is there to help her begin.

Apparently everyone is moving along in their storylines, including Roy Harper and Deathstroke. During the Comic-Con panel, Colton Haynes referred to season two as Roy’s “island” and Andrew Kreisberg made a point of telling fans that those who are interested in if/how Manu Bennett’s Slade Wilson becomes the Deathstroke, then they should make sure to watch season two.

The other big news from the panel is that although it seems as if Malcolm Merlyn met his end in the season finale of Arrow season one, perhaps he’s not as dead as we assumed. John Barrowman appeared on stage saying “I would be more than happy to come back into this family fold. And if I’m being invited back, it’s more than the 50th anniversary of ‘Doctor Who’s’ ever done.”

As great as all that news is, two big guest spots were also announced.

Arrow season two sizzle reel

That’s right, Suicide Squad’s own Bronze Tiger is coming to Starling City! Or the island, his story hasn’t been revealed. Michael Jai White will play the martial artist sometime in season two. Given that they are announcing it this early, you’d have to imagine it’d be early in the season.

Kevin Alejandro as Sebastian Blood in Arrow

Same goes for Kevin Alejandro, guest starring as a character named Sebastian Blood, aka Brother Blood. Longtime foe of the Teen Titans. It’s a little easier to see the martial arts fighting of Bronze Tiger making the leap to the Arrow-verse, but there will be some definite changes in the Brother Blood character to comply with the “no superpowers/metahumans” thing that they’ve committed to. But we’ve seen how Count Vertigo was able to be adapted so I’m not too worried about it.

So I think that about covers it. Laurel Lance is still going to be Black Canary. Caity Lotz is going to help her. Roy Harper and Slade Wilson both have changes in store for them. Oh yeah, Thea is taking over Oliver’s club, and Summer Glau’s Isabel Rochev is coming to town.

Can’t wait for October 9th when Arrow season two premieres!

Arrow-City-of-Heroes

‘Arrow’ Season Two Casting Update: Caity Lotz May Play A New Black Canary! [UPDATED]

If you read my Arrow reviews throughout season one, you would know that I have been anxiously awaiting for Laurel Lance to become Black Canary. There were just so many little nods to the character throughout the entire season that it seemed inevitable.

Well, apparently not.

Continue reading ‘Arrow’ Season Two Casting Update: Caity Lotz May Play A New Black Canary! [UPDATED]

Summer Glau Headed to Arrow, But As Who?

Filming of the second season of Arrow just started. Like yesterday. And already there is big news when it comes to casting and her name is Summer Glau. That’s right, the geek princess herself is coming to Starling City. With a show that has been drawing heavily from pretty much every other nerdy show out there – Battlestar Galatica, Doctor Who, more that I can’t remember right now – it feels like it was only a matter of time. Not only that but it appears as if I already believed that the character Glau is slated to play would someday appear on the show.

Robert Queen's Book of Names

As you can clearly see, the name Isabel Rochev appears there below David Drayson. Waaaaaayyyy back towards the beginning of the season. I made note of this page when talking in this post about the upcoming episode with the Royal Flush Gang.

That’s right, Summer Glau has signed on in a “major role” in season two as Isabel Rochev, the Serbian businesswoman who is a bit off her rocker.

A fairly new character in the DC Universe, Isabel Rochev is a woman who once met Robert Queen, is starstruck by him and sets out to make her own life better using him as an example. Long story short (not too long it’s been less than five years), she sort of goes off the deep end. As she gets older she gathers up small companies and is able to in the long run own a controlling share of Queen Industries. Somehow in between the time of being a Serbian slave girl to actually taking over Queen Industries, she gets it in her head that she is actually the rightful heir to QI and that Robert Queen truly loves her.

Isabel Rochev and Oliver Queen

Oh and most importantly? She wants Oliver out of the picture. For good.

Of course that’s the Isabel Rochev of the Star City. Isabel Rochev of Starling City, played by Glau, is the head of Stellmore International which is in the hunt to take over Queen Consolidated. Talk about kicking a man when he’s down. Moira is off to jail, Oliver is likely going to start the season off brooding over Tommy, and Thea? Who the hell knows what Thea will be doing. Seems about the right time for a ruthless business woman to step in and right the floundering ship.

As a matter of fact, Summer Glau will first appear as Isabel Rochev in the season two premiere of Arrow in October.

Summer Glau

Arrow: Season 2 – Marc Guggenheim Talks Possible Villains

Executive producer Marc Guggenheim sat down with ComicBookResources to talk about Arrow season two. It’s a very interesting interview in terms of what they envision as the “trajectory” of Oliver, plus hints about who we might see from the DC universe in this upcoming season.

Continue reading Arrow: Season 2 – Marc Guggenheim Talks Possible Villains

Arrow: 1.23 – Sacrifice (Season Finale)

So last week we left off with Oliver getting his ass handed to him by Malcolm Merlyn. ‘Sacrifice’ picks up shortly thereafter with Oliver semi-hanging from the rafters as Malcolm circles him in a threatening manner.

Sacrifice

Ooooh, look at Oliver getting all bad ass, threatening Merlyn and all that. Of course, as Merlyn pointed out – he may be younger, and he may be stronger, but twice now Oliver has gotten his ass kicked by a man old enough to be his father. Hmmm, that doesn’t not bode well for your superhero career.  Amazingly, he has better luck against a man who is surrounded by an army and surface to air missiles! Granted on the island he has both Shado (who, unsurprisingly, can reprogram the aforementioned surface to air missiles) and Slade Wilson, but still he took out Fyers’ entire army! Okay, okay, he used a missile but still! I feel like I’m trying to give Oliver a lot of credit here and perhaps I’m trying a bit too hard so let’s move on to the real story of this finale.

As we found out in past episodes, Malcolm plans on taking out the Glades with a “seismic event”. Of course no one but the people involved in the undertaking and the Arrow Crew know about it. Obviously, much like Oliver being the vigilante, this is a secret that just can’t stay secret.

Sacrifice

Before Oliver and Laurel had a tender moment perfectly squared by the incoming sunlight, I couldn’t help but notice that Moira was packing up Walter’s things. NOOOOO!!!!! Say it isn’t so! I thought they’d work it out in the end but maybe next season? Please make this happen writers, even if she’s in jail. Oooh, Walter could come visit Moira and they could have heartfelt discussions through the glass. That’d be nice.

Oh, before we move on to the whole blowing up part of the city and the aftermath therein, let’s revel in this moment.

Sacrifice

Not only has your ex-best friend lied to you about being a vigilante in a hood, stole your girlfriend, and just told you that your father is going to blow up part of your city, then he goes and makes you look like a fool by effortlessly dodging your punch.

That’s gotta hurt. Of course it doesn’t help that Tommy then heads off to talk to his dad, refer to Oliver’s ridiculous jihadist accusations only to then get his ass kicked by his dad who seems really unhinged this episode. Of course if I were planning on causing an earthquake to take down an entire part of a major city, I’d probably be a bit on edge as well.

Sacrifice

Oh Malcolm, you troubled soul you. You need some psychological intervention. I’m not a professional but I’d have to imagine that constantly reliving your wife’s death by listening to her die over and over probably isn’t very healthy. Granted this makes for great television viewing but still, yikes.

Sacrifice

So Malcolm is devolving and Moira is finally sprouting some cajones and speaking out about Malcolm’s plan. She couldn’t have done that before the timer was set to go off I suppose. Safety of her family and all that. But now she’s ready to take the risk and what better way to assure not only will the police, but the man hell-bent on killing anyone in his way will hear what you have to say? A press conference in your living room of course.

Again Thea and her ridiculousness never fail, because hearing her mother admit to being part of this plan and the reason her father died, the first thing she thinks of? Her felon boyfriend. Girls. Am I right? [Ed. – The fact that Thea assumes Roy is too dumb to leave the Glades along with EVERYONE else is telling. Stupid Thea.]

Sacrifice

Dear residents of the Glades – I have a bone to pick with you. I’m not totally sure of the timeline here as it was a little vague, but at most there’s a couple of hours in between the announcement that your neighborhood is going to disappear into the ground and it actually happening. Call me crazy, but my first thought would not have been to bust out the posterboard and sharpies and make signs about the end of the world. Unless you just have these hanging around for a everyday use, this seems like a horrible waste of time. Perhaps if you managed your time more wisely you wouldn’t have to be running around in the streets like a chicken with your heads cut off. Just a thought.

Sacrifice

The rest of the episode was cutbacks between the panicked people of the Glades, a pretty kick ass fight scene between Oliver and Malcolm, and Felicity talking Detective Lance through disarming the device. I actually loved Detective Lance in this part because you could tell he was panicked, you could tell he was nervous, but at the same time he was so giddy and pleased with himself when he shut it down. Paul Blackthorne really has done a great job as the crotchety detective trying to piece his life back together after his daughter died and wife left. He’s been a pleasure to watch which is why I got really nervous that he was going to go down with the ship.

I don’t know if the people at Arrow kept it under wraps or if I just missed the news, but I was totally taken by surprise by Tommy dying. When Oliver moved the chunk of concrete I gasped when I saw the rebar through his chest. Kudos to Stephen Amell and Colin Donnell because that last scene was very emotional and very well done.

Sacrifice

Overall, this was a fantastic finale. I might go out on a limb and say it was one of the best season finales I’ve seen in quite some time. The cliffhangers were organic, the story line didn’t seem forced which happens a lot with big dramatic scenes. For a network that is often seen as “not as good”, Arrow and The CW knocked it out of the park. I’m going to have to go even further out on the limb and give it a five out of five.

grizzly rating 5of5

A fantastic season finale to wrap up a great first season of Arrow! It’s been a great ride and I look forward to seeing what season two has in store.