10 Comic Book Characters You Never Knew Were In The Arrowverse

Over four seasons of Arrow, two of The Flash and one of Legends of Tomorrow (plus retroactively related show Constantine), The CW’s DC universe – known by fans as the Arrowverse – has translated quite a few classic comic book characters to the screen. There will only be more to come in the future, as well, as Legends' season one finale teased the arrival of the Justice Society of America. However, there are several other DC characters that exist in this world who have only been hinted at, in the likes of background easter eggs or seemingly throwaway lines. Most likely these are just nods to the fans rather than actually acting as a set-up for a proper introduction down the line, but hey, you never know. So, on that note, here are 10 comic book characters that you probably never realized existed in the Arrowverse. 10) Harley Quinn This one might actually be familiar to many Arrowverse fans as much was made of a very Harley-like figure appearing in the Arrow season two episode titled "Suicide Squad." In case you missed it, Diggle and Lyla are arguing outside of an ARGUS cell, in which a woman with a Brooklyn accent calls them “puddin’” and says she can help them out as she's a trained therapist. Obviously, it's not too much of a stretch to realize who the woman is. Sadly, Harley was barred from featuring any further due to the upcoming Suicide Squad movie (which was also the reason that the whole team was eventually killed off in the show). Still, the ramifications of Harley existing the Arrowverse are huge, as if she exists, surely the Joker does too, right? And if the Joker exists… Well, you get the idea. 9) Doctor Light The Flash season two introduced a version of classic DC foe Doctor Light – here it was the Earth-2 doppelganger of Barry’s ex-girlfriend Linda Park. Though we haven’t seen him in action yet, there is actually another Doctor Light hanging around Earth-1. In Arrow's season two episode "The Man Under The Hood" (which also sounds like a reference to Batman’s Red Hood), future Flash characters Cisco and Caitlin aid Team Arrow against Deathstroke, with a light-based weapon. Cisco mentioned that it was created by their STAR Labs colleague Arthur Light, who was previously fired for “being a psycho.” This is a reference to the original iteration of Doctor Light, who's a long-running enemy of the Justice League. After clearly setting the character up here, it's unknown why they decided to use another version of the villain in The Flash. Who knows, though? Maybe Psycho Dr. Light will pop up in the future? 8) Blue Beetle If everything had gone to plan, we would have seen a lot of classic hero Blue Beetle in the Arrowverse by now. However, due to the ruling of DC’s movie division, the character has been reduced to a bunch of easter eggs. Throughout the first two seasons of Arrow, Kord Industries was frequently mentioned. Likewise, its CEO Ted Kord was even said to have invited Oliver Queen to a fundraiser at one point. This was intended to set up the character’s arrival as Blue Beetle in season three, where he would have been played by Brandon Routh. Late in the day, however, the order came from high-up that the character was off the cards due to a planned Booster Gold and Blue Beetle movie. So, plans were changed and Routh ended up playing Ray Palmer AKA The Atom instead. 7) Spectre Those who watched the short-lived Constantine (which was revealed to take place in the Arrowverse when Matt Ryan’s John Constantine appeared in Arrow’s fourth season) may recall that a supporting character on that show was cop Jim Corrigan. DC fans will know that Corrigan goes onto become the supernatural hero the Spectre in the comics. However, even they might have missed that this eventuality was teased on the show. In the episode "Danse Vaudou," psychic Zed Martin has a vision of Corrigan’s future where he is riddled with blood and bullet holes and surrounded by a green mist. This mirrors the character’s origin story from the comics, in which he is killed but his soul is sent back to his body by a higher power to rid the world of evil. While it's a nice nod to Spectre, it's still frustrating that this particular arc was left unexplored and we're hopeful for an appearance by the character in the near future. 6) Doctor Fate It might have only run for 13 episodes but Constantine managed to tease the existence of not one but two significant heroes in the Arrowverse. Alongside the vision of the Spectre, the series teased another figure with one fateful easter egg. In pilot episode "Non Asylum Est," Liv Aberdine picks up a rusted golden helmet. Fans will immediately recognize this as the Helmet of Fate – one of the most powerful objects in the DC universe which bestows magical powers on whoever wears it. In the comics, the helmet has been worn by multiple heroes who take up the mantle of Doctor Fate. Fate previously appeared on Smallville and, as it doesn’t seem likely that the movies would use this fairly obscure character, let’s hope that the Arroverse introduces himself properly at some point. 5) Oracle Of all the characters that make up the Batfamily, it might seem odd that the only one categorically confirmed to exist in the Arrowverse is Barbara Gordon AKA Oracle. This must be the case, though, as she was namechecked by Green Arrow himself. In season four episode "A.W.O.L.," Oliver gives Felicity the nickname Overwatch. However, he says that he would prefer to call her Oracle, but can't because the name is already "taken.” Of course, this is a reference to how Felicity’s role – a wheelchair-bound tech genius – mirrors Oracle’s. On a related note, another Batman sidekick who might exist in the Arrowverse is Dick Grayson. Bludhaven has been referenced before, which is the city Grayson protects in his guise as Nightwing. A boy can also be glimpsed wearing a classic Robin costume at Halloween in an episode of Constantine. 4) Aquaman Ok, now we’re getting onto the big boys. A few members of the Justice League are mulling around the Arrowverse, but several easter eggs suggest that the main hitters of the team are also out there somewhere. One such example is Aquaman. He definitely exists on Earth-2, as Hunter Zolomon (pretending to be Jay Garrick) said that one of his best friends was from Atlantis – which is of course Aquaman’s kingdom. A deleted scene from The Flash’s pilot episode would have suggested that Aquaman was on Earth-1, as well. In it, Joe moaned at Barry for skipping work to go to Amnesty Bay to investigate claims that there was a man there “who could talk to fish.” This could be considered non-canon because it was deleted, but we’re counting it here, as we really, really want this to be the case. 3) Superman Yup, the Man of Steel himself just might be in the Arrowverse somewhere. He obviously exists in sister show Supergirl and, though it doesn’t take place on Earth-1, that could have major repercussions. The Flash season two showed us that each Earth has doppelgangers of the same person, which means that there could be another Superman on Earth-1. Also, in The Flash season one, supercomputer from the future Gideon said that Barry Allen was “a founding member of the—” before being cut off. This was surely a reference to the Justice League. And we all know that you can’t have a JLA without Superman! The biggest hint to his existence occurs, however, in a juicy line of Rip Hunter's in Legend’s third episode. “I’ve seen men of steel die and dark Knights fall,” he says, seemingly confirming that Superman in the Arrowverse. As well as a certain other hero… 2) Batman Naturally, “dark Knights fall” can only refer to Batman. If you don’t think that's concrete enough proof, though, other references also suggest that the Caped Crusader is out there. On the Reverse-Flash’s newspaper from the future that reappears throughout season one of The Flash, a smaller headline announces that Wayne Enterprises has completed its merger with Queen Consolidated. This is from a future after Barry has helped form the potential Justice League, so it looks like Green Arrow and Bruce Wayne are best buddies by that time. Despite the hints at Oracle and a grown-up Robin, a common fan theory goes that the Arrowverse Batman is currently at an early part of his career where he's still considered an urban legend. And, due to the complicated relationship between the films and TV shows, we shouldn’t expect the character to make a proper entrance any time soon. 1) Green Lantern Perhaps because the minds behind the Arrowverse - Greg Berlanti and Marc Guggenheim - previously wrote the 2011 Green Lantern movie, the DC hero they most like to tease is Hal Jordan. Firstly, Coast City has been namechecked many times across Arrow and The Flash - as is Ferris Air, who Jordan worked for. In The Flash episode "Rogue Air," Barry mentions how Ferris Air has closed down due to a test pilot going missing, something that happens to be Hal’s origin story. If this wasn’t enough, a flashback in Arrow’s fourth season premiere sees Oliver in a bar. The scene opens on a shot of an unseen man in a green military jacket - his name tag reads Jordan. Sadly, though, that's as close as we're probably ever going to get to a Green Lantern/Green Arrow team-up on the show!