While Arrow is set to conclude its run after the upcoming eighth season, a few of the show’s current characters are possibly continuing their adventures in the Arrowverse. The CW revealed earlier this week that they have handed out a pilot order to an untitled female team-up series from the producers of Arrow. The spin-off would star Mia Smoak (Katherine McNamara) as she becomes the new Green Arrow along with the two Black Canaries, Laurel Lance (Katie Cassidy) from Earth-2 and Dinah Drake (Juliana Harkavy.)
Even though the show may end up being called something else, this is essentially a Birds of Prey-esque series for the Arrowverse. It still remains to be seen whether or not it’d be set in Mia’s 2040 timeline. It wouldn’t be shocking if the series ends up being set in the present with Mia having traveled back in time that would also make things easier for the annual crossovers. A backdoor pilot is being prepped for the final season as there are a lot of mysteries surrounding the project. With a show like this, it’d be a great opportunity to feature other female heroes both previously established Arrowverse ones as well as a few new faces from the DC Universe. With that said, these are the 10 female superheroes that should join the spin-off series.
Nyssa Al Ghul
One of the earliest heroines that we met on Arrow was one of Ra’s al Ghul’s (Matt Nable) daughters, Nyssa al Ghul (Katrina Law.) Over the course of her time on the series, Nyssa became a bigger ally to Team Arrow, including the mentoring she does for a young Mia in the future. It’s always been a shame that Nyssa never got to be a full-time character in the show. But for the spin-off, this would be a perfect opportunity for the character to join the team. While Law did just book a gig as a series regular on the next season of Hawaii Five-0, Nyssa could always join the spin-off series in future seasons.
Lady Blackhawk
The spin-off will most likely be a combination of Arrow’s grittiness and a bit of The Flash’s sci-fi aspect, given the two meta-human canaries. But why not also throw in a time travel-y element a la Legends of Tomorrow? Enter Zinda Blake a.k.a. Lady Blackhawk, a hero from the late 1950s who ends up in the present time of the DC Universe.
Someone like Zinda would be a fun addition to represent superheroes of the past trying to wrap their heads around the world in 2020. Also, how great would it be too see that fantastic costume get brought to life in live-action?
Manhunter
While Arrow already had Kate Spencer (Chelah Horsdal) in the first two seasons, she ended up being killed off. But with Crisis on Infinite Earths, they could undo her death and reintroduce the character by leaning toward her comic counterpart as Manhunter. Chances are that the role would be recast which would make a lot of sense. Having someone like Manhunter would be an interesting way to portray a heroine who fights crime with advanced tech.
Bumblebee
While the Arrowverse has a good range of diverse heroes, we have only a handful of black superheroes, both male and female ones. Someone who could be a bit of the light in the series would be Karen Beecher a.k.a. Bumblebee.
It would also be generally fun to see a superhero that can shrink to insect-size, fire sonic force blasts while kicking some butt. While she does have connections with the Teen Titans and Doom Patrol, it shouldn’t prevent Bumblebee to have a place in the Arrowverse.
Green Lantern
Excluding the 2010 movie, the Green Lantern universe is something that needs to be more explored in live-action, both on the big and small screen. As the Arrowverse has a big lack of Latinx heroes, someone like Jessica Cruz would fit in with a team-up show like this. Being one of the most popular Green Lanterns in comics, it’s a surprise that Jessica has yet to be brought to life in live-action. With someone like Jessica, it would allow the Arrowverse to explore a new side of the sci-fi element through a Green Lantern.
Katana
One of the previously established heroines that we’ve seen on Arrow is Tatsu Yamashiro a.k.a. Katana (Rila Fukushima) who is set to return in the final season. But why stop there? Bringing Katana into the series as a full-time cast member would allow her to be more fleshed out after having followed her origin story in Arrow season three.
It’d also be good to see a Japanese superheroine getting the opportunity to have a larger place in the Arrowverse. Currently, we don’t have a lot of Japanese or Asian characters in general when it comes to superhero properties.
Zatanna
Something that the Arrowverse doesn’t play a lot with, aside from Constantine (Matt Ryan) on Legends of Tomorrow, is magic. Other than Constantine, we have barely seen any magic-based superheroes on the other shows. That’s why it’s time to bring in one of the most famous ones from the comics: Zatanna Zatara. Someone as fun and deep as Zatanna deserves to have a larger role in a live-action series or film. Zatanna would allow the series to get to explore the magical side of the DC Universe. It would also be great, down the line, to see Zatanna and Constantine work together like in the comics.
Vixen
Another underused heroine who we have met before is Mari McCabe a.k.a. Vixen (Megalyn Echikunwoke.) After her live-action debut in an Arrow season four guest spot, Mari hasn’t returned since then. While Legends of Tomorrow explored her grandmother Amaya Jiwe (Maisie Richardson-Sellers) in past seasons, that character wouldn’t really be able to take part in this spin-off. Given Vixen’s big role in the comics, this show would the perfect place to get to flesh out her Arrowverse incarnation. Whether it would be Echikunwoke coming back or Richardson-Sellers taking over by playing her own granddaughter, Vixen would be a terrific hero to add.
Oracle
It has yet to be revealed what the status is for the other Bat-family characters in Batwoman. With season one of the Ruby Rose drama set to focus on Kate’s beginning as a hero, it’s safe to say that other Bat-heroes will not be present in the story. But could this spin-off perhaps allow one of them to be a hero outside of Gotham City? Since this spin-off is very much Birds of Prey in a sense, introducing Barbara Gordon as Oracle would be more than fitting. Having her join the team would be a good way to establish why she supposedly isn’t active in Gotham anymore. But most importantly, it would be an incredible inclusion as media have almost no superheroes with disabilities.
Huntress
In the first two seasons of Arrow, the Green Arrow drama featured a few appearances of Helena Bertinelli a.k.a. the Huntress (Jessica de Gouw.) While there have been attempts to bring the character back in season six and seven, schedules just didn’t allow it. Given Helena’s role in the Birds of Prey mythology, having her join a group of canaries is a no-brainer. There’s so much that can be done with Huntress as a character that the Arrowverse has barely touched.