Just yesterday, I brought news about the appearance of Batman villain Firefly at the tail-end of the first season of Arrow and today, we're talking about Batman himself....as well as Superman and Wonder Woman. Before the pilot episode of Arrow aired, the producing team behind Arrow; Greg Berlanti, Guggenheim, and Andrew Kriesberg were pretty adamant about Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman and other fantastical DC characters not appearing on the show. Well, as we begin to 'dip our toes' into the first season of Arrow, it looks as if they make be taking a softer stance on DC's Trinity in perhaps a trend that could continue to unfold as the season progresses? Below, we're already getting acknowledgement of a larger Arrow universe that contains some staples and locales familiar to fans of DC's preeminent superhero trio.
"We're open to anything and everything; I'm not entirely sure you'll be seeing characters like Superman, Batman, Green Lantern and Wonder Woman because they're much more fantastical and right now we're focusing on Oliver Queen as being the only hero. That being said, we're looking forward to bringing on other DC Comics characters and characters that people have never really seen before or lesser-known characters. That's what's been fun for us; Superman will always get his due." --- Andrew Kreisberg
"We've got a lot of different characters and then there are characters you may not recognize unless you're a diehard comic book fans. One of the things we've done, mainly because we're fans, is we've thrown in a lot of Easter eggs for the hardcore fans. If you're a big fan of the DC Comics universe, you'll see a lot of familiar names and places: Big Belly Burger, which is a hamburger chain from the Superman comic books makes a regular appearance on our show and we have a Big Belly Burger franchise as one of our standing sets. You'll still hear about characters from those worlds and from [Gotham and Metropolis]. We're imagining a DC universe without super-powered characters but that doesn't mean that in our parallel universe that there isn't a Metropolis or a Gotham City. There are references to places like Corto Maltese (a wartorn island) and Markovia. I would listen and watch carefully if you're a comic book fan because some of the references are really subtle and will go past a lot of people." ---Marc Guggenheim
"When we bring characters from the DC universe into the show, we're careful about doing it right and having a reason to and not just doing it to say because we can bring in a specific character. As time goes on, hopefully we'll do some of the biggies." ---Greg Berlanti
"I want to see General Zod, or at the very least Terrence Stamp in some way shape or form. People have speculated that maybe Hal Jordan would show up in Starling City before he gets the ring. There are a ton of people that we could see." --- Stephen Amell
SYNOPSIS: After a violent shipwreck, billionaire playboy Oliver Queen was missing and presumed dead for five years before being discovered alive on a remote island in the Pacific. When he returns home to Starling City, his devoted mother Moira, much-beloved sister Thea, and best friend Tommy welcome him home, but they sense Oliver has been changed by his ordeal on the island. While Oliver hides the truth about the man he's become, he desperately wants to make amends for the actions he took as the boy he was. Most particularly, he seeks reconciliation with his former girlfriend, Laurel Lance. As Oliver reconnects with those closest to him, he secretly creates the persona of Arrow - a vigilante to right the wrongs of his family, fight the ills of society, and restore Starling City to its former glory. By day, Oliver plays the role of a wealthy, carefree and careless philanderer he used to be - flanked by his devoted chauffeur/bodyguard, John Diggle - while carefully concealing the secret identity he turns to under cover of darkness. However, Laurel's father, Detective Quentin Lance, is determined to arrest the vigilante operating in his city. Meanwhile, Oliver's own mother, Moira, knows much more about the deadly shipwreck than she has let on and is more ruthless than he could ever imagine.
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Official Series Description For CW's ARROW
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Running Time: 60 min
Release Date: October 10, 2012
MPAA Rating: Unknown
Starring: Katie Cassidy, Stephen Amell and Willa Holland
Directed by: David Nutter
Written by: Greg Berlanti (story/writer), Marc Guggenheim (story/writer), Andrew Kreisberg (writer), George Papp (character) and Mort Weisinger (character)