Arrow, starring Stephen Amell, is The CW's most watched television program at 3.9 million viewers. With Grant Gustin, introduced in Season 2 as Barry Allen a.k.a..
The Flash, seemingly poised to become just as popular as Amell, it's probably fair to ask - What other superheroes and super villains introduced on Arrow are deserving of their own spinoff? Is a
Huntress spinoff starring Jessica de Gouw a good idea? Would a
Suicide Squad show, starring Amanda Waller (Cynthia Addai-Robinson), Diggle (David Ramsey), Harbinger (Audrey Marie Anderson), Deadshot, (Michael Rowe), Bronze Tiger (Michael Jai White) and perhaps Harley Quinn find an audience? There's also appears to be a
Birds of Prey team forming on Arrow with Felicity (Emily Bett Rickards), Huntress, Katana (Devon Aoki) and Black Canary (Caity Lotz or Katie Cassidy) all in play. And lastly, we have
Deathstroke (Manu Bennett) cooling his heels in the makeshift Super Max prison setup by Oliver on Lian Yu. Which of these options would you like to see added to the budding DCTV universe being created on The CW.
It's no secret that Arrow executive producer and script writer Marc Guggenheim is interesting in exploring
Helena Bertinelli's story further. There's a whole year unaccounted for between Jessica de Gouw's Starling City departure in Season One and when she returned in Season Two. This is the time span that Guggenheim would apparently like to explore. Previously, Guggenheim told TV Line, "I’d love to do a Huntress series – I mentioned this to Jessica – where we cover the year that she spent between Episodes 117 and 217, from her perspective, traveling the world and hunting for her father. You never know, all things are possible, as long as we’ve got Jessica’s willing participation.” Securing de Gouw's willing participation should no longer be a problem. In theory, de Gouw could have commanded more air time during season 2 of Arrow but the actress was very busy, filming NBC's Dracula. However, that show has been canceled, potentially freeing up de Gouw's schedule for more Arrow screentime.
Michael Rowe owns the role of Floyd Lawton aka Deadshot on Arrow. While a scene-stealer, it may still be too much of a stretch for a solo Deadshot show. This is where the Suicide Squad factors in as supplemental story material beyond Lawton's backstory as a cutthroat marksman-for-hire who takes on high price missions to support the daughter he can never see. Bronze Tiger also has an interesting back story and the A.R.G.U.S. connection in the form of Cynthia Addai-Robinson's Amanda Waller would provide some great symmetry with Arrow. It's unlikely that David Ramsey's Diggle would be available for double duty on Arrow and Suicide Squad, at least on a consistent basis, but his ex-wife, Lyla Michaels (Audrey Marie Anderson) would be a nice addition to the team, as the "Rick Flag JR." of the group. Or, Michaels and Waller could have their respective roles reversed, seeing as Lyla is the new head of A.R.G.U.S. Throw in a nut-job like Harley Quinn, who has already had a brief cameo on Arrow and an interesting dynamic starts to form. Waller could send the Squad on various missions around the globe, with mainstay members Deadshot, Bronze Tiger, and Lyla anchoring a team of 4-5, with one or two spots left open for rotating specialists, selected based on the parameters of the mission. Given all of the bad guys Arrow locks up (and all the Flash Rogues that will soon be locked up), this rotating spot could see quite a few interesting names and faces - Robert Knepper's Clock King, Manu Bennett's Deathstroke, de Gouw's Huntress, the possibilities are quite endless. Again, Ramsey is probably unlikely for a Suicide Squad spinoff, however, he did state at SDCC that the show's producers have discussed it. "
They're talking about spinning Suicide Squad off," said the fan favorite Arrow actor. He continued, "
I don't know if they're going to really do it, but they've been talking about it. People really respond to the Suicide Squad, responded to Deadshot a lot and to Harley Quinn and Bronze Tiger. The consensus is that the writers and producers see this stuff in social media, they see this stuff on the boards and they don't completely bend their will to it but they answer the questions and the curiosity leads the writing to a certain degree. The talk has been kind of connecting the tissue of the last season to the beginning of the next season with maybe some Suicide Squad during the hiatus perhaps. That's been one option. The other option has been having two or three episodes during the season."
If the Network is hesitant to greenlight a show, solely devoted to Jessica de Gouw's Huntress, a Birds of Prey series would be a nice alternative. Caity Lotz has definitely developed a strong fan base, with many Arrow enthusiasts adamant that she remain the one and only Black Canary instead of Katie Cassidy's Laurel Lance. However, it's probably inevitable that Caity eventually needs to ride off into the sunset for good in order to make room for Cassidy's imminent fishnets and blonde wig. Still, The CW would be smart to keep a strong asset like Lotz in play. Emily Bett Rickard's Felicity Smoak is probably off limits for a Birds of Prey show, similar to how David Ramsey probably wouldn't be available for the Suicide Squad. Still, Devon Aoki is set to make her debut as Tatsu Yamashiro aka Katana in the new season of Arrow. Also, there's the Arrow Season 3 episode titled Oracle, which will flashback to Felicity's time at MIT. Given the title, many fans are hoping that flashback includes a run-in with Barbara Gordon aka Batgirl aka Oracle. While a Birds of Prey spinoff series may not by in the works on The CW (yet), Guggenheim is interested in at least playing out that dynamic on Arrow. "
One of the things we would love to do at some point is an episode where you’ve got Black Canary, Felicity and The Huntress working together. That’s on our show bucket list."
There's great casting and then there's brilliant ideas like casting Spartacus' Crixus as Deathstroke the Terminator. Without going into too much detail and Arrow season 2 spoilers, it was made readily apparent that Mirakuru, the drug that gives super strength and health regeneration, also makes its users quite psychotic. With Manu Bennett's Slade Wilson now cured, perhaps he can return to a somewhat saner mental slate? And perhaps the fact the he had Mirakuru coursing through his veins for so long means he retains just a touch of enhanced strength and healing abilities? While a reconciliation with Stephen Amell's Oliver Queen is probably out of the question, maybe Slade can adopt more of his comic book persona as a mercenary for hire? A Deathstroke TV show should take Wilson to many different DC cities and countries and lead to encounters with character yet to be introduced on Arrow. If the showrunners wanted to paint the character as an anti-hero, perhaps he's contracted by one of DC Comics' seemingly endless, wealthy billionaires to serve as a bodyguard, or maybe a bodyguard for their hot, teenage kid (hey, this is still The CW)? Or if you wanted to continue his portrayal as a villain, perhaps Wilson is depicted as a ruthless warrior looking for a worthy opponent. This type of quest could easily lead him to track down and confront various superheroes and superhero teams (cough..Teen Titans...cough), as he looks for a challenge.