{"id":1583,"date":"2014-11-21T14:52:38","date_gmt":"2014-11-21T19:52:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sharkpuppet.com\/?p=1583"},"modified":"2014-11-21T14:52:38","modified_gmt":"2014-11-21T19:52:38","slug":"what-may-be-next-for-the-cws-dc-universe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/sharkpuppet.com\/wordpress\/what-may-be-next-for-the-cws-dc-universe\/","title":{"rendered":"What May Be Next For the CW\u2019s DC Universe"},"content":{"rendered":"

Welcome back to Channel Chaser! If you\u2019ll recall a while back, a wrote an article detailing my wish list for the CW Network\u2019s newly-founded DC comics universe, as established by the TV shows Arrow<\/em> and The Flash<\/em>. While not all of my hopes and dreams have been confirmed as of yet, a closer look at both of these shows, as well as their promotional materials, can give you some big hints as to what might be coming down the road.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s take this promotional poster for The Flash<\/em>, for example. Have a nice long look, because there\u2019s a lot to absorb at first glance and some of it is pretty cleverly hidden.<\/p>\n

\"FlashPoster1\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Now here\u2019s the same poster with the potential Easter Eggs highlighted.<\/p>\n

\"FlashPoster2\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Okay, so what do we have here? Well, actually a lot. First, there are the obvious ones: the Queen Consolidated logo, which showcases the prominent ties between The Flash<\/em> and Arrow<\/em>. Stephen Amell\u2019s Oliver Queen has made at least one appearance across the shows already, as has Grant Gustin\u2019s Barry Allen, and with other characters such as Felicity Smoak visiting Central City as well, it\u2019s pretty much guaranteed that it\u2019s not going to end any time soon. If tentative titles are to be believed, there is also an upcoming Flash<\/em> episode called \u201cFlash vs. Arrow\u201d, indicating that there may be a clash between the two heroes. It\u2019ll be interesting to see how the skilled but limited Queen manages to keep pace with the speedy meta-human.<\/p>\n

Also, S.T.A.R. Labs and Palmer Technologies logos are quite visible in the cityscape. As every fan of the show knows, S.T.A.R. Labs\u2019 role in The Flash<\/em> is already well-established, and there are possibilities that other figures associated with the company may pop up in the near future, including but not limited to Cisco Ramon and Kaitlin Snow\u2019s transformations into the heroes Vibe and Killer Frost respectively, as well as the all-but-inevitable return of Ronny, Kaitlin\u2019s supposedly dead fianc\u00e9, as the meta-human hero Firestorm. It\u2019s also the home of Victor Stone, a.k.a. Cyborg, but seeing as he\u2019s supposed to be in the upcoming Batman vs. Superman<\/em> movie, I think the CW will steer clear of recasting the role.<\/p>\n

Arrow<\/em> devotees will also note the role of Ray Palmer in that series: the billionaire industrialist who eventually becomes the size-shifting superhero The Atom. Sure, it hasn\u2019t been foreshadowed a lot yet, but\u2026\u201dBigger Isn\u2019t Always Better\u201d? Come on. The only question is when and how the transformation will take place. It\u2019s always seemed to me like Arrow<\/em> is trying to steer clear of the whole super-powers thing, leaving that mostly for The Flash<\/em> to develop, so is it possible that we\u2019ll be seeing more of Palmer and his alter ego in Flash<\/em> than in Arrow<\/em>? We\u2019ll have to wait and see on that one.<\/p>\n

Also, between the cryptic message \u201cGrodd Lives\u201d scrawled on the pavement, the broken cage from The Flash<\/em>\u2019s pilot episode, and the recent reveal of Grodd himself in the episode \u201cPlastique\u201d, it\u2019s only a matter of time before Gorilla Grodd shows up as a big bad guy in that show. I\u2019ve always thought Grodd\u2019s whole concept was kind of a goofy Planet of the Apes<\/em>-type thing, but there\u2019s no denying that he\u2019ll make a powerful foe one he\u2019s been properly introduced. I can only hope that The Flash<\/em> brings Grodd in tastefully and with a minimum of ridiculousness.<\/p>\n

Okay, now onto some more obscure ones. Another company that features prominently in the poster is Kord Industries, which has been hinted at throughout Arrow<\/em> as well as a business and technology giant. This is of course the company owned by Ted Kord, also known as the tech-powered superhero the Blue Beetle. Fans have been begging for the Beetle to be brought in for a while now, and as one of my personal favorite superheroes, I have to agree. By introducing Kord, or perhaps his futuristic partner hero Booster Gold\u2013hey, anything\u2019s possible because apparently time travel is a thing in The Flash<\/em>\u2013we could get a nice counterpoint to Barry\u2019s inexperienced and somewhat na\u00efve do-gooder. I\u2019m kind of sad that it seems like the Beetle we get probably won\u2019t be Jaime Reyes, but I can understand how the whole alien storyline that DC gave his character is probably too big of a can of worms for the CW to open at the moment.<\/p>\n

You can also see the symbol of Stagg Industries in the background, owned by DC villain Simon Stagg. Stagg is somewhat of a lower-key version of Lex Luthor, in that he\u2019s a brilliant business tycoon who uses immoral means to get what he wants. He\u2019s also locked in battle with the hero Metamorpho, a.k.a. adventurer Rex Mason, who Stagg once betrayed and left for dead. Unfortunately for us, Stagg already showed up in The Flash<\/em> for a grand total of about ten minutes on screen in the second episode, and was killed at the end of it\u2013a pretty lackluster showing for such a great villain. This throws a lot of doubt on an appearance by Metamorpho as well. I guess you can\u2019t win them all.<\/p>\n

Also, the presence of AmerTek\u2019s logo hints at the introduction of John Henry Irons, better known as the hero Steel, and the comic book ties between Steel and Stagg make it even more likely. It seems that the CW is pulling out all the stops to fill up their universe with all the unused DC characters that they can.<\/p>\n

And for those of you who want to get really, really subtle, there\u2019s always Big Belly Burger. It\u2019s no secret that this fictional fast-food chain has already showed up a lot in both Arrow<\/em> and The Flash<\/em>, but did you know that in the original comics, Luthor Corp owns the restaurant? Yes, the<\/em> Luthor Corp: as in, Lex Luthor. Again, while it seems unlikely that Luthor will feature on the CW due to the ongoing Superman movie series, nothing is certain as of now.<\/p>\n

Fans have also been clamoring for some Batman characters to be introduced to the shows, with non-film or Gotham<\/em> choices like Barbara Gordon, a.k.a. Batgirl, and Dick Greyson\u2019s so-far absent hero Nightwing running at the top of speculation. While this would be the biggest leap of all the spoilers I\u2019ve gone through so far, I still don\u2019t think it\u2019s completely outside the realm of possibility.<\/p>\n

Personally, I think that they should give up on DC movies and just throw all the characters into these and other new shows to build the TV universe. But that\u2019s just my opinion. You can take it or leave it, DC. But it\u2019s worth thinking about.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Channel Chaser is written by Kyle Robertson. You can check out more of his work on his\u00a0<\/span>website<\/a>. Check back every Friday for new articles.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Welcome back to Channel Chaser! If you\u2019ll recall a while back, a wrote an article detailing my wish list for the CW Network\u2019s newly-founded DC comics universe, as established by the TV shows Arrow and The Flash. While not all of my hopes and dreams have been confirmed as of yet, a closer look at [Read more…]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[22],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/sharkpuppet.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1583"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/sharkpuppet.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/sharkpuppet.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sharkpuppet.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sharkpuppet.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1583"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/sharkpuppet.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1583\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1585,"href":"http:\/\/sharkpuppet.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1583\/revisions\/1585"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/sharkpuppet.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1583"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sharkpuppet.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1583"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sharkpuppet.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1583"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}