With this news came a plethora of questions surrounding this new series. For example, why is only one half of Firestorm set to star? How do Captain Cold and Heat Wave fit into the plot? Who are the other 'major' DC characters that will be joining the show? Etc, etc... The biggest question among fans, though, surrounded Caity Lotz's inclusion and how her character, who seemingly died on Arrow, will fit into the plot.
We all saw it in the season three premier: Sara was impaled with several arrows before falling from a building and into a dumpster. Now, we’ve seen Oliver come back from a sword through the chest and falling into a ravine, so we know it’s possible to survive such injuries in this universe. But, we also saw Sara’s dead body multiple times and we even saw her buried by team Arrow. We know that the Arrow creators have absolutely no problem with taking major events and details from the Batman mythos and that they will make subtle changes to a character to fit him or her into their story. So would it be smart for them to adapt the events of Batman: Under the Red Hood and re-introduce Sara as the Red Hood? I say absolutely.
For those who don’t know, in that story arc, Batman’s second Robin, Jason Todd, is killed by the Joker. His body is then stolen by Ra’s al Ghul and he is resurrected by the Lazarus Pit. Coming back to life after being dead for so long, though, proves to have several negative effects on the psyche and the former Robin goes rogue, eventually becoming the bloodthirsty Red Hood.
In a past episode of Arrow we saw Ra’s bathing in the Lazarus Pit and he mentioned that he has been alive for, at least, a couple of centuries. In tonight's episode, The Offer (03x16), we learned that the Pit can not only keep you from ageing but also heal wounds. Healing wounds and resurrection are very different animals, but we know the Lazarus Pit does exist in the universe and we can assume that it has similar effects as in the comics.
There are three characters who all have strong motives to bring Sara back to life: Thea is plagued by guilt for killing her, Laurel is distraught over her sister’s death and has seen her relationship with her father deteriorate as a result, and Nyssa is devastated by the death of her beloved. (I realize that Oliver loved her too, but I don’t see him going to such extremes). Thee characters that would greatly benefit from Sara's resurrection and it seems like the only way to bring her back, at this point, is with the use of the Lazarus Pit.
There are many different ways for this to happen, depending on how the rest Arrow’s season plays out, so let’s just assume that one or two or all of these women work to get Sara’s body to the Lazarus Pit. The magical properties of the Pit successfully resurrect Sara, but its lingering psychological effects take a major toll on her.
Upon returning to Starling City she learns that Malcolm, the man behind her murder, is, not only still alive, but was under the protection of Oliver from Ra's and the League of Assassins. This causes her to snap, much like Jason Todd does when he learns that Batman did not avenge his death. Her character has always had a flair for violence, which Oliver tried to subdue while they fought together, but this type of betrayal allows her to realize that Oliver's methods are flawed and broken, so she leaves. She still wants to make a difference and do "good", but she is now willing to take extreme measures to punish villains and eradicate evil and injustice. She doesn’t want to reclaim the mantle of the Canary, because the Canary in her was never resurrected and Laurel has since taken over. Instead she dons the Red Hood persona and joins the others on this new show.
That story arc is extremely similar to that of Under the Red Hood and Sara already possesses a similar skill-set to Jason Todd. Not only would it be cool to see a live-action version of the character, it would also be fun to see it portrayed as a woman.
Some may think that the upcoming TNT series, Titans, based on Dick Grayson and the Teen Titans, would prevent this from happening. Couldn't the series, which is said to take place in the same universe as The Flash, Arrow, and this new series, potentially feature Jason Todd at some point down the line? I highly doubt it; unlike Grayson, a post-Red Hood Jason Todd character would really rely on Batman being established in this universe. DC has made it pretty clear that Batman is off-limits for the Arrow-verse, which most likely means no Joker and no Jason Todd tragedy. Others may claim that Red Hood is already being established on Gotham, so DC wouldn't allow CW to use the character. But, there have already been characters that have shown up in both universes, for example, the past few episodes of Gotham have featured the Dollmaker, who had already been used on Arrow's second season, so that shouldn't be a problem.
For those who think that Arrow has already taken too much from the Batman mythos *raises hand*, this is actually a character that they could truly fit into this universe and make their own. They could make this more of an homage to the fantastic source material than a rip-off.
The final episodes of Arrow and The Flash will definitely clear a lot up and give us a better idea as to how they plan on going about this new show. But, I think Sara Lance as Red Hood would bring a very intriguing dynamic to the new superhero team as it would pit a morally ambiguous character up against an extremely moral character in Ray Palmer. It would create conflict and really allow the new series to take off and separate itself from its parent-shows.