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Arrow

We all know that we’re living in the “Golden Age of Television,” but we’re also living in the Golden Age of Superhero Franchises. Marvel films are taking over the box office and the CW has slowly but surely started to create their very own DC universe with Arrow and The Flash.

Now, it’s not like the Green Arrow and the Flash are as obscure as Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy, but they aren’t as iconic as Batman and his rogue gallery of colorful villains. So, to help you dive into the interconnected comic book worlds of Arrow and The Flash, we’ve compiled this quick overview of the two shows’ major characters and how they relate (or don’t relate) to their comic book inspirations.

The Arrow (Oliver Queen) played by Stephen Amell

Comic book nerds might know Oliver Queen as Green Arrow, but the CW has shorted his moniker to just “The Arrow.” It’s cleaner or something, I guess. Green Arrow made his comic book debut in 1941. He was kind of a mix of Robin Hood, The Green Archer, and Batman: a billionaire playboy named Oliver Queen who helped dole out justice at night with his impressive archery skills.

Arrow stays fairly loyal to this concept. Oliver Queen is a billionaire playboy who is presumed dead after a shipwreck. He winds up on a prison island where he has to learn how to fight in order to survive. When he finally returns to his hometown, Star City, he becomes a vigilante called “The Arrow.” The show deals with his missing years on the island in flashbacks, and shows how Oliver is balancing to struggle his personal life with the trials of being a hero. He also takes his shirt off a lot for training montages.

Season Three of Arrow debuted last night on the CW and Stephen Amell made a cameo in the series premiere of The Flash.

The Flash (Barry Allen) played by Grant Gustin

The original Flash was a 1940 DC comic book hero named Jay Garrick. He was a college co-ed who gained the power of super speed after being exposed to “hard water vapors.” People don’t really like to talk about him very much. Most Flash nerds prefer to geek out over Barry Allen or Wally West. The CW is telling the story of forensics scientist turned super speedy hero, Barry Allen.

The comic book version of Barry Allen got his powers after he was doused in chemicals and hit by lightning at the same time — as often happens. The CW’s version of the Flash is a little bit more intriguing. As a boy, Barry Allen watched his mom get murdered by what appeared to be a man moving as lightning. Years later, an adult Barry is hit by lightning caused by a particle accelerator accident and falls into a coma and then wakes up and has super speed, super muscles, and super fast healing abilities. Again, this is something that also happens to people everyday.

Grant Gustin guest-starred on two episodes in season two of Arrow. He didn’t yet have powers, but he worked with Oliver Queen and they became friends. The pilot has a Sam Raimi Spiderman feel and paints Barry as a sweet guy who is uncertain about whether or not he can be a hero, but who is also obsessed with solving his mom’s murder.

Black Canary (Sara Lance) played by Caity Lotz

The Green Arrow’s one big love interest in the comics is the Black Canary, aka Dinah Laurel Lance. In Arrow, Black Canary is Sara Lance. She and Oliver were having an affair behind her sister Laurel’s back. Oliver thought she died in the shipwreck, but then she showed up on the island, and then she was trained, too, and then she joined the League of Assassins, and now she’s back and kicking butt and stuff. The romance between Sara and Ollie seems kind of kaput, but it’s been hinted that she will be passing the Black Canary torch to her sister, Laurel…

Laurel Lance (Black Canary?) played by Katie Cassidy

In Arrow, Laurel Lance is Oliver Queen’s childhood sweetheart. She’s the one who got away, and is presumably the one that he’s meant to be with. She’s a feisty, smart, do-gooder lawyer. She may not be in fighting shape yet, but like I said, the CW is setting it up for her to eventually become the Black Canary we know from the comics. And then she and Arrow will presumably fight crime and make out and purists will be happy. Except, there’s kind of a hiccup…

Felicity Smoak played by Emily Bett Rickards

Felicity Smoak was an original character that Arrow writers brought in to help Oliver with tech stuff. She’s a computer nerd and she was just supposed to be that. The problem is that the actress, Emily Bett Rickards, had more chemistry with Arrow lead Stephen Amell than any of the other actresses cast as potential love interests. The producers kept writing for her and halfway through season one, she joined the “Arrow team” as their tech specialist. In the second season finale, Oliver declared his love for her.

Huntress (Helena Bertinelli) played by Jessica De Gouw

When Oliver Queen first meets Helena Bertinelli, she seems like a nice, sweet girl. She wears crosses and is sad about her fiancé’s untimely death. However, she moonlights as the vengeful vigilante, Huntress. Helena and Oliver briefly date, which leads to him trying to take her under his wing. He wants to train her to be a better fighter and better person. However, she’s kind of a loose cannon who would prefer to kill the people who have hurt her than take the moral high ground. She doesn’t get along with the Black Canary.

Nyssa al Ghul played by Katrina Law

Hey, remember Liam Neeson in the Christopher Nolan Batman movies? He played this guy named Ra’s al Ghul? Marion Cotillard played his daughter, Talia? Yeah? You remember? Well, Arrow has introduced Ra’s al Ghul’s other daughter, Nyssa, as the head of the League of Assassins. The show has also cast Matt Gable as Ra’s al Ghul for season three. Like Huntress, Nyssa’s inclusion in the Arrow universe suggests that the CW is trying to connect the show with Batman.

Deathstroke (Slade Wilson) played by Manu Bennett

In the comics, Deathstroke was a super scary American assassin who was originally meant to be a villain for the Teen Titans. On Arrow, he’s an Australian and former ASIS agent who finds himself on the same crazy prison island as Oliver. They become friends and he trains Oliver to be a hero. However, the two bros fall out over a love triangle and some crazy serum and basically, Slade becomes a villain obsessed with ruining Oliver’s life.

Iris West played by Candice Patton

Lest you thought we were forgetting about dear Barry Allen… Candice Patton plays Iris West. In the comics, her father raised Barry and later she and Barry fell in love and got engaged. However, only half of that is true on The Flash. The two grew up together, but Barry has an unrequited crush on Iris. She sees him only as a brother, best friend, and dude to talk about boys with.

Time will tell what other DC comics characters will make their way onto The Flash, but it’s clear that the CW is creating a very complex reinterpretation of the DC Universe. We’re just holding our breath to see Wonder Woman pop up…

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Photos: The CW & Everett Collection