The success of The CW’s superhero action dramaArrowbuilt the foundation of multiple spin-offs, giving DC fans a TV universe featuring over five different series. With famous DC heroes like Superman, The Flash, Green Arrow and Supergirl in attendance, it’s safe to say the collectiveArrowversesaw its heroes share the screen withplentyof interesting characters. After ten years, seven series andhundredsof episodes later… we’ve seen DC legends rise and fall. Although it keeps on growing (a third season ofSuperman & Loiswas just ordered at The CW), not every character’s story in theArrowversedid them justice. From samurai to aliens, here’s a list of characters theArrowverseneeds to dust off and pick up off the shelf.
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Katana -Tatsu Yamashiro
In Season 3 ofArrow, Oliver Queen (Stephen Amell) faces his greatest threat yet when Ra’s al Ghul — The Demon’s Head and The League of Assassins’ prolific leader — threatens Star City with a bioweapon calledTheAlpha Omega. Luckily for his hometown and its citizens, Oliver has encountered this weaponized virus once before in Hong Kong during his…sabbatical. Oliver stays withTatsu(Rila Fukushima) andMaseo Yamashiro(Karl Yune) and their young son who, once the virus is released in Hong Kong, dies. After seeking revenge, Maseo steals a vial of the virus and later offers it to Ra’s al Ghul, which is how it finds its way to Star City years later. In an effort to stop the League of Assassins in present day, Tatsu joins Team Arrow as they infiltrate Nandu Parbat. But when Tatsu is brought face to face with Maseo, now a member of the League, their reunion isn’t allhugs and kisses. She drives her katana through Maseo’s chest.
Soon after the team’s victory over Ra’s, Tatsu returns to Hong Kong to be a vigilante… where Oliver finds her again in Season 8. In an episode titled “Welcome to Hong Kong”, Tatsu helps Oliver locate a doctor to appease the Monitor. Although she received a lengthy and honorable arc on the series, losing both her son and husband could have seenKatanaturn intosomething darker. Besides providing Oliver with fleeting moments of guidance, Katana’s storyline had the potential to introduce us to the intricacies of Chinese crime overseas. After Oliver’s visit to Hong Kong, audiences could have stayed with Tatsu as she continued to sword fight her way through crime lords and assassins. Now that’s a spin-off!
Deathstroke -Slade Wilson
Having appeared numerous times in projects likeArrow,Titansand evenBatman vs. Superman, it’s evident thatDeathstrokeis a popular character on DC Comics' A-List. Although Slade Wilson (Manu Bennett) has been depicted as a ruthless antagonist on more than one occasion, none have done whatArrowdid in bringing Slade’s story to life. Throughout the series, Oliver struggles with the sins of his past and in Season 2, he suffers for aparticularlyawful one. The way Slade constantly outmaneuvers Oliver and the rest of Team Arrow after years of planning and preparation is downright diabolical.
While on the island Lian Yu, Oliver fell in love with Shado (Celina Jade) but also fell for Sara Lance (Caity Lotz). Their relationship kept Slade from being with Shado, who also loved her. When Oliver is forced to choose which of the two girls will die, Oliver saves Sara… leaving Shado for dead. Slade, driven by grief, anger and resentment, injects himself with the experimental super-soldier serumMirakuru. Slade makes more than a few appearances after Oliver imprisons him on Lian Yu, but what if theArrowverseshowed us the period of time in which SladebecameDeathstroke, making his way up in the world of mercenaries until he finally locates Oliver in Starling City? If theArrowverseever considers taking a darker turn thematically, following Deathstroke’s journey after Oliver defeats him with an arrow to the eye on Lian Yu would definitely be thebloodiestway to do it.
Doctor Destiny -John Deegan
John Deegan (Jeremy Davies) is a psychiatrist at Arkham Asylum who is visited by the Monitor and given the task of rewriting reality in theArrowverse’s crossover eventElseworlds. In DC Comics, John Deegan is known asDoctor Destiny, someone capable of manipulating reality and dreams by using a gemstone. Apart from the havoc he unleashes on our favorite heroes, Deegan is also known for experimenting on the patients at Arkham. Not only could further exploration of Doctor Destiny connect us to characters likeSandmanandBatman, but the number of Gotham villains locked away within Arkham Asylum is seeminglycountless. A peek into Deegan’s role at Arkham could find fans of theArrowverseface to face with legends like The Riddler, Harley Quinn, Poison Ivy, Killer Croc, Scarecrow and The Joker! Not only does Doctor Destiny have the potential to become an even stronger villain than we’ve seen him be, but following his story at Arkham Asylum can introduce us tomanyothers.
Reign -Samantha Arias
Martians and Kryptonians are only a few of the many intergalactic characters in this TV-Universe, most of whom find themselves associated with Kara Danvers (Melissa Benoist) inSupergirl. Not only was Supergirl’s adversaryReignincredibly powerful, but her vision for a world without sin was utterly horrifying. The human race is lucky the Kryptonians who’ve landed on the Earth have been heroes, but that luck runs out when the Dark Kryptonian awakens in its human host, Samantha Arias (Odette Annable). Worldkillers introduce a powerful intergalactic threat for theArrowverse, perhaps leading to the introduction of characters like Green Lantern, Starfire and Wonder Woman. Revisiting Reign would give audiences another chance to learn about the dark history and lore of Krypton. Although she ended up being Season 3’sbig bad, Reign was never truly defeated—she was stripped of her powers. But what if we saw Reign regain them and continue her quest to end the world? Who would Supergirl enlist to help her? Could the threat be grave enough to finally unite the Justice League in theArrowverse?
Thalia al Ghul - The Demon
Since most of the spotlight rests on Nyssa al Ghul (Katrina Law) due to her romantic relationship with Sara, her sister Thalia al Ghul (Lexa Doig) doesn’t get much of a storyline until Seasons 4 & 5 ofArrow. We learn Thalia trained Adrian Chase (Josh Segarra) with the intention of setting him loose on Oliver as revenge for him killing her father. But the daughter of the Demon’s Head is a way bigger threat than she was made to be on the series. Villainy aside, if any character has the most intriguing origin story in this TV-Universe… it’s her.
Following Thalia’s story would peel back the curtain on the League of Assassins, showing us the many adventures and missions of the League around the globe over the years. We’d witness as they infiltrate governments, topple empires and murder political officials. Revisiting Thalia’s story would also reintroduce audiences to Ra’s al Ghul (Matthew Nable), the deadliest man on Earth, and perhaps finally reveal how he came to be the Demon’s Head. Only seeing bits and pieces of their rivalry over the years, it’d be endearing to see Thalia and Nyssa growing up together in competition as heirs to the Demon. Based in Nandu Parbat, home to desert ruins and a dried up Lazarus Pit, The League of Assassins remains one of the most compelling organized gang of villains in theArrowverse.
John Constantine
John Constantine(Matt Ryan) is a practiced demon hunter and self-proclaimed master of the dark arts who finds himself on the Waverider with other heroes inDC’s Legends of Tomorrow. Along with naughty English wit, Constantine possesses a wide knowledge of all things magical, demonic and occult. Originally meant to headline his own show in theArrowverse, Constantine’s pilot was released in 2014 but canceled soon after. Constantine then became a titular character in the fourth season ofDC’s Legends of Tomorrowand even befriends Lucifer inCrisis on Infinite Earths. He is hilarious, entertaining, endlessly adventurous and could lead theArrowverseinto a captivating world of mysticism and magic. Not only is he a charming antihero, but Constantine has demons (literal and otherwise) that haunt him, making for a compelling protagonist.
The Dollmaker - Barton Mathis
One of the creepiest villains Green Arrow has ever faced,The Dollmakeris a sadistic serial killer obsessed with skin who murders young women by suffocating them and leaving their corpses dressed as dolls for the police to find. Barton Mathis (Michael Eklund) makes a compelling villain for a hero without superpowers. Cruel, insane andgenius, it’s difficult for Oliver to outsmart Mathis until he gets his hands on Laurel Lance. Although The Dollmaker meets his end via White Canary, he wouldn’t be the firstArrowversecharacter who turned out to still be alive. Finding Mathis alive but trapped among the other mad men at Arkham Asylum would bebeyondinteresting, especially if we were to see him escape and get up to no good in the streets of Gotham City.
Prometheus - Adrian Chase
Following a messy fourth, the fifth season ofArrowdragged its knuckles until it revealed its big bad was none other than Prometheus (Josh Segarra) himself. Prometheus is not only a major character in mythology, but also in DC Comics. Adrian Chase became one of theArrowverse’s most integral villains in the penultimate season that finally closed the story of Oliver’s five years away from home.
Prometheus is a murderous archer who will stop at nothing to hurt Oliver. Chase even kills his own wife to freely continue down his path of vengeance. Like Slade, he spent years formulating the perfect plan to enact his vengeance on Oliver Queen, making him a calculated enemy who remained one step ahead of Oliver until the very end. The fifth season finale ofArrowbrought us full circle, dropping Team Arrow onto Lian Yu after Prometheus kidnaps Oliver’s son. After a climactic battle, Oliver saves his son but fails to stop Chase from detonating bombs buried on the island. These explosions leave our favorites in the midst of fiery chaos. Since Chase sets off the bombs by shooting himself in the head, it’d be interesting to see another character take up his mantle as Prometheus.
Black Arrow -Oliver Queen(Earth X)
One of the most interesting characters to step foot into theArrowverseis the evil counterpart of the leader himself: Oliver Queen.The Black Arrowis the version of Green Arrow who lives on Earth-X, a reality within the multiverse where the Nazis won World War II and rule the world. AlongsideOvergirlandBlitzkreg, the supremacist versions of Supergirl and The Flash (Grant Gustin), Black Arrow fought against Earth-X’s heroesThe Freedom Fighters. During Arrowverse' best crossover event, Barry and Iris (Candice Patton) are moments from getting married when an army of Nazis from Earth-X storms into the church, interrupting the ceremony. The heroes are then tasked with overthrowing the New Reich during an epic four episode cross-over that ends with the good guys successfully sending the Nazis back to Earth-X. Although… it would have been interesting if the Black Arrow had stuck around afterwards. Since the series constantly addresses Oliver’s deadly potential to do evil but shows us hechoosesto do good, it would’ve been captivating to see an evil version of him unleashed upon Star City. The potential character journey for Black Arrow, who we first meet as a villain and supremacist, could see a significant change in him under the guidance of Oliver and Team Arrow. This also would’ve given Oliver an opportunity to reflect on himself as a hero. Although training, educating and converting a Nazi archer would’ve been a hefty challenge, it would’ve made forone hell of a story.
