If producer Greg Berlanti has one hard, fast rule for comics fans when it comes to his reimaginings of DC Comics heroes, it is that you forget what you know. At least when you're watching the show.
Berlanti, who had a hand in the critically panned "Green Lantern" movie 3 years ago, made his own mark a year later with his retooling of a long running DC hero, Green Arrow, turning Oliver Queen from a swashbuckling playboy into a grim, dark avenger not unlike a certain denizen of Gotham City. And Batman ain't coming to Starling City, home of Arrow, any time soon.
However, Berlanti has taken supporting players from the Bat-franchise and placed them in his Arrowverse, such as the Huntress and villains like Deadshot and R'as Al Ghul, the latter of whom figures prominently in the season 3 mid-point episode airing on December 10 before Arrow goes into rerun mode for a few weeks. There've been other DC characters sprinkled throughout, and the success of Arrow, as we have noted before, led to The Flash being spun off this season.
This is what we know. Yes, Oliver Queen (Stephen Amell) was on a deserted island for a few years, but it wasn't as deserted as we were led to believe in the books. He's had dealings with a veteran DC rogue, Deathstroke, aka Slade Wilson, for example. Some recent concepts, such as the governement agency ARGUS, have been incorporated into Arrow and eventually will make its way onto Flash. There is a Black Canary, but right now she's not Ollie's "pretty bird", as she has been in the comics for years. It's complicated. Berlanti must've been a soap opera fan as a kid.
For the first two seasons, viewers were screwed if they didn't watch the show and had no way of getting to the CW website. This season, Time Warner has heard the pleas from fans, and have added a CW portal to their "Entertainment On Demand" channel. Unfortunately, it's only this season's episodes. They do want you to buy the DVDs, of course. On Demand is where I was able to watch this week's episode, the 2nd half of a 2-night crossover event with Flash. Here's a trailer:
Two supporting characters, John Diggle & Felicity Smoak, have been incorporated into the current Green Arrow book as a by-product of the show's success, much as Harley Quinn moved from Batman: The Animated Series into the DC Universe 20 years ago. And, yes, there is a monthly, digital-first book based on the show.
Berlanti, of course, isn't done. He has a non-superhero series, NBC's Mysteries of Laura, airing opposite Arrow, and in the pipeline has Supergirl ticketed for CBS next season, while he's working with Archie Comics and Fox on a little something called Riverdale. Yep, it sounds like Fox & Warner Bros. are biting their own hands, if Riverdale ends up being what I think it could be (a parody of Gotham). Now, if Berlanti could do something about a certain magician babe............
Rating: None. There will be a review of the Season 1 DVD coming soon. This week was too small a sample to properly rate the show.
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