THE ARROWVERSE
FROM IMPRISONED HEROES TO TIME-TRAVELLING DAUGHTERS, JOHN CONSTANTINE TO BATWOMAN, DC’S TV UNIVERSE IS BUSIER THAN EVER. THE STARS OF ALL FIVE SHOWS TELL TARA BENNETT WHAT’S COMING UP...
The stars of CW shows Supergirl, The Flash, Arrow, Black Lightning and Legends Of Tomorrow join forces for SFX.
WE’RE SEVEN YEARS into TV’s Arrowverse of DC superheroes and there’s no stopping the onslaught of spandex. That universe expands this year into Batman territory as the city of Gotham and Batwoman – played by ruby rose – enter the stories of some of the existing pantheon of do-gooders. she’ll soon appear in a major crossover event episode that will unite the narratives of Arrow, The Flash and Supergirl, and an intro that will serve as a set-up for her own solo series, set to drop in 2019.
Black Lightning’s sitting this one out. now in its second season it’s still setting up the more intimate stories of the Pierce family in Freeland. as for Legends Of Tomorrow, showrunner Phil Klemmer tells SFX that because of their unique narrative for the upcoming fourth season, it didn’t make sense to include their team: “We do our own thing, and the fact that we’re not participating in the crossover this year is an indication that we exist in our own separate, tonal universe. One world is plenty for the Legends.”
But not for viewers, thankfully. Believe us when we say it’s all kicking off this autumn in Tv’s most heroic universe…
“The tone is very different in a really cool way” Melissa Benoist Kara Danvers
“Right now there’s nothing about him that’s heroic” Stephen Amell Oliver Queen
SUPERGIRL
The end of season three revealed a Kara doppelgänger in Siberia. How is that going to be explored this year?
The doppelgänger we saw at the end of season three will be a very cool experiment of nature versus nurture in the way that Red Son, the Superman comic, explored it in showing how two people with the same abilities can be so different and what kind of heroes they would be, their ideals, and what their moral compasses would be. I’m excited to see what they do with it.
Will this season feel different in tone now that the storytelling is back in National City?
From the scripts I’ve seen, the tone is very different in a really cool way. Last season was a lot of fire and brimstone, and witchcraft and fantasy which was great, and an homage to Buffy The Vampire Slayer, which I loved. This season, it’s going more topical and grounded in the reality of the state of the world today. It’s relating those issues to what it would look like in National City.
Are you happy that the supergirl writers stay as topical as they do with real-world issues?
Yes. I think our writers’ room handles things very deftly and with a lot of care because of the younger audience of the show, but I don’t think that makes it any less important that we touch on those issues. This season will be no different and I think they will go even further with it.
ARROW
We last saw Oliver admitting to the world he’s Green Arrow and being put in prison. Where does this season pick up?
Oliver is in prison with a bunch of people that he put in there so it’s not great. But the thing that I like about Oliver right now is that there’s nothing about him that’s heroic. It’s kind of the opposite, and that’s been really fun for me to play. He’s always the “take charge, solve the problem, save people” guy and that’s not what he’d doing in the premiere.
Will an incarcerated Oliver be portrayed even darker?
yeah. Our director, James Bamford, did a lot of shots where I stare down the barrel of the camera and there’s a lot of stuff from Oliver’s perspective. Prison life is [beats fists together] and we really try to show that.
Going back to the season six finale, there were some great moments in it. What were your favorites?
I liked Oliver’s moments with everyone in the finale. My scene with emily [Bett rickards] where I tell her what I’m going to do was a highlight for me, and my last scene with Paul [Blackthorne]… man, oh, man. I get emotional just thinking of it.
Batwoman gets introduced in the Arrow crossover episode this season. Who else is Oliver going to see?
We have some people who come back to the show that we haven’t seen in some time so that’s cool. and having Batwoman is awesome. I’m glad they’re doing a show [with her] and I hope it works out. and there’s a character in the crossover that no one knows about yet.
BLACK LIGHTNING
Now that Anissa is in the suit, what’s next for her this season?
This season you’re going to see a little more of Anissa’s love life, with her trying to juggle and balance, love, career and activism. Her sister and her family are reminding her to get out there. She’s so hell-bent on justice and fighting for her community that she forgets to also look for love.
Will Anissa be working on Jen (China Anne McClain) more to embrace her powers?
Heck yeah! My whole argument with Jen has been convincing her that this is a gift that we’re supposed to be using. Face it, we’re not normal. I want to see in season two us teaming up and hitting the streets together. Can you imagine how badass that would be?
BLACK LIGHTNING
The Pierce family was turned upside down by the season one finale. Black Lightning and Thunder are public heroes. Where do we pick back up?
The show picks up a week after the finale. I think the through-line of the beginning of the season is consequences. There’s the aftermath of all of that and we’re starting to see the consequences of what we’ve done.
Can the Pierce family go back to who they were before Jefferson donned the suit once more?
We went through a lot of stuff, so now we’re trying to pick up the pieces and be normal, and we’re having to define a new normal.
“I want to see us teaming up and hitting the streets together!” Nafessa Williams Anissa Pierce/Thunder
“We’re starting to see the consequences of what we’ve done” Cress Williams Jefferson Pierce
THE FLASH
Surprise! We find out in the season four finale that Nora (Jessica Parker Kennedy) is the daughter of Barry and Iris from the future. What kind of relationship will we see develop between parent and child?
I think initially there was a little scepticism because we’ve had people walk in and say, “I’m this person” on the show before and they’re not. But I think Iris and Barry are both operating under the gut instinct that this is their daughter. Iris is really excited and wants to connect with her. She’s a speedster and it’s exciting. But Barry is more worried about why she’s here because he feels like he would have taught her not to time travel. It makes him wonder what the state of things are in the future, and if Iris and Barry are both around.
Do we get to see a very fatherly Barry?
It’s been less like a father and more like a mentor. For Nora, she looks at him like a father. So, it’s surreal. He’s still digesting it all. But also, he’s worried because the powers and time travel have dictated everything in his life, and robbed things from him. He grew up without his mom because of his powers and time travel. And his dad was in jail. Now he’s a little worried that her being here now could rob him of his family dynamic in the future. If she makes a mistake, or says the wrong thing, she could not exist in the future.
LEGENDS OF TOMORROW
How’s Ray feeling at the start of this arc?
Ray is happy they defeated Mallus (John noble) but is conflicted about his decision to give nora Darhk (Courtney Ford) the Time stone. There are some things that happen earlier in the season that lead him to question if that was a good idea, and whether his gamble on nora turning into a good person is going to pay off or not. He’s a little worried about that.
Ray’s really been allowed to be the lighter character of the group. Was that an organic shift in the scripts?
I think they wrote more into what I was doing, so they could make somebody contrast to the darker side of the characters we had. ray on Arrow was envisioned in one way but I swam upstream because I wanted to make him not so much a Tony stark. He’s a kinder presence and that naturally just fed into the comedic abilities of ray, and the comedy gold that could be mined out of a goody two-shoes character. I don’t think it’s a character represented enough which is the nerdy boy scout who still wants to be cool and part of the team.
How’s Ray going to feel about John Constantine (Matt Ryan)?
Ray’s excited about understanding magic and how it works.
What’s Sara’s mindset as we start season four?
I think Sara really wants to try to build a life and some real normalcy to feel like a real person. Of course, that’s not an easy thing to do so I think she’s going to struggle a lot between her responsibilities as the captain and having a relationship, like a normal person.
John Constantine appeared in the season three finale and is now part of the mix. What’s her dynamic with him?
Constantine is the devil on Sara’s shoulder. She has a new hold on life. “We saved the world and I have a girlfriend, maybe my life isn’t so bad and maybe I can let people in and love.” And then there’s Constantine who’s like, “I know who you really are. You’re just like me.” I see him putting in jeopardy the loose hold she has on this new life.
What are you hoping to see as part of the narrative this year?
Now that we have so many girls in our cast, I’d love more missions where it’s all ladies. I think there are a lot of great bromances on our show so we need more girlmances. I would like the female relationships to deepen.
“Ray’s excited about understanding magic” Brandon Routh Ray Palmer
“It’s surreal. He’s still digesting it all” Grant Gustin Barry Allen
“Constantine is the devil on Sara’s shoulder” Caity Lotz Sara Lance