For fans of the CW’s Arrowverse, it’s hard not to get excited for the next big crossover between all the shows. Not only will we get to see our favorite characters interact, but it’ll be a chance for the shows to pull in new characters from the comics. Of course, in the meantime, the individual series are pretty good about reinventing heroes and villains from the page and bringing them into the world of the shows. Though he differs a bit from his comic book counterpart, the changes made to Prometheus on Arrow have made for a complex and intriguing villain for Oliver to face - even more so now that we know his secret identity.
The Green Arrow and his team are still in the dark, however (except for Dinah), so they’ll still be at a disadvantage for this week’s “Checkmate.” The recent promo has teased just how far ahead of our heroes Prometheus is, so the conflict is nowhere near completion. On top of that, Oliver still has the mysterious Vigilante to contend with, plus the mess he’s in back in his Russian flashbacks.
Luckily, he’s got some help from Talia al Ghul in the past, but will she ever reappear in Oliver’s contemporary life? When EW asked executive producer Marc Guggenheim that question, he assured fans we would.
Though featured far less than her sister Nyssa, Talia is actually the more popular character in the comics. She’s long been an enemy of Batman, when she wasn’t drugging him and forcing him to become the father of her child. Oliver’s familiarity with both sisters, however, brings up the issue of why he’s never mentioned Talia before to Nyssa or their father. The simple answer: he doesn’t know her last name.
“We will see her in the present day. What she wants from Oliver in the past is very different from what she wants from him in the present.”
Hopefully, this renewed focus on Talia won’t come at the expense of Nyssa returning to the show. Katrina Law spent years becoming a strong, anti-hero character and a satellite member of Team Arrow. Now that Talia is in the picture, seeing the two sisters return as the frenemies of the Green Arrow would make for some killer television.
“Oliver couldn’t have heard it, because if he had, when Ra’s talked about his daughter he’d be like, ‘Yeah, the other daughter, I met her back in Russia.’ We were very cognizant not to retcon anything. So yes, she is Talia al Ghul, but Oliver obviously doesn’t know that.”
And speaking of returning characters, IGN has word that Cody Rhodes, WWE superstar and faux-archenemy of Stephen Amell, will be returning to the show. Earlier this season, he played crime boss Derek Sampson, a drug dealer granted the power to feel no pain. He’ll show up in upcoming 21st episode of the season, continuing the meta-rivalry.
Talia and Sampson won’t be the only characters coming back to Arrow, either. Dolph Lundgren will be reprising his role as the villainous Kovar in an upcoming flashback on the show. All told, the Green Arrow and his companions are going to have their hands full the rest of the year. Here’s hoping some of these ghosts from the past turn out to be allies, as Oliver is up to his eyeballs in rogues at this point.
Arrow returns Wednesday, March 15 at 8 pm with “Checkmate” on the CW.
Source: EW and IGN
