The Arrowverse's Wonder Girl series could be set in the franchise's future. When The CW partnered with DCTV to launch Arrow in 2012, they had no idea it would become the basis for an entire shared universe of TV shows. But the Arrowverse - or "The CW-verse," as the network is now attempting to rebrand it as - continues to expand relentlessly.
The CW has recently signed off on the most unexpected idea to date - a Wonder Girl series, starring a character named Yara Flor. Even devoted comic book readers can be forgiven for not recognizing Yara Flor's name, because in fact she's yet to make her debut. Yara Flor will be one of the original characters unveiled in DC's Future State initiative, where she will be introduced as the Wonder Woman of 2050. Precious little is known about Yara Flor to date, but she appears to embody a very different aspect of Amazonian heritage to that typically seen in Diana.
There's clearly going to be some sort of synergy between the Arrowverse and DC's Future State. That raises the intriguing possibility the Arrowverse could be expanding in an unexpected way - by traveling forward in time.
Yara Flor Is Part Of DC's Future State
Yara Flor will make her comic book debut in January 2021, as part of a DC Comics initiative called Future State. This is one of the boldest projects in the history of DC, and it will see the entire line replaced for the first two months of 2021 by comics exploring the future of the DC Universe. Yara Flor will appear in a number of titles, set at different points in this future timeline. The earliest is the Future State: Justice League miniseries, which is set in the year 2040. She is visible on the cover of this book, but curiously appears to look a little younger. She will also appear in Future State: Wonder Woman, set a decade later in 2050, when she has apparently just become Diana's successor as Wonder Woman.
Both DC and The CW clearly have a lot of confidence in Yara Flor, given she's been confirmed to star in her own DCTV series before she's even made her first appearance and begun to build a fanbase. That makes DC's decision to tie her into the Future State initiative all the stranger, because doing so actually limits what they can do with her going forward. They'll be asking Future State: Wonder Woman writer Joelle Jones to create an immersive world in which she operates, but the better a job she does, the harder it will be to remove her from it so she can interact with more celebrated and famous heroes. This approach would make sense, however, if Yara Flor's future setting was actually a core part of the character's design - both in the comics and on The CW.
The Arrowverse Has Already Explored The Year 2040
In the comics, it looks as though Yara Flor will be the Wonder Girl of 2040, and the Wonder Woman of 2050. The year 2040 is already significant for the Arrowverse, because it is the time visited in a series of flash-forwards in Arrow seasons 7 and 8. This is the time period in which Mia Queen is destined to take her father's place as the next Green Arrow, protecting Star City from the forces of evil. In fact, Arrow season 8 included a back-door pilot for a series starring Mia called Green Arrow & the Canaries, which would have been set in 2040. There's been no news about this spinoff for quite some time, leading to fears The CW has passed on the show. Whether they have done so or not, though, that doesn't necessarily mean the Arrowverse has given up on stories set in 2040.
In fact, it wouldn't be hard to connect the Wonder Girl of 2040 to the Green Arrow of 2040. Wonder Girl is confirmed to be an origin story for Yara Flor, and thus it is reasonable to assume it will discuss the Amazon tribe she is connected to, which in the comics appears to live in Brazil rather than on the island of Themyscira. That does not, however, mean she will remain in South America. In fact, purely for ease of filming alongside the rest of the Arrowverse, it would be much easier for the writers to find a way to bring her to the United States. She could even wind up heading to familiar territory - say, Star City. This would allow the Arrowverse to continue establishing their own "Future State," featuring cameos from Green Arrow and the Canaries, and even continuing to set up their own series. If the Green Arrow & The Canaries series doesn't move forward, this is the best avenue for those characters' arcs to continue.
The Arrowverse Has Never Been Averse To Time Travel
It's true this would initially seem to mean Wonder Girl will stand a little more distanced from the rest of the Arrowverse, but that isn't necessarily a problem. The Arrowverse has never been particularly averse to time travel, as evidenced by the existence of Legends of Tomorrow; the crew of the Waverider could quite easily arrive in 2040 themselves for team-ups with Green Arrow and the Canaries, and the same would be true of a Wonder Girl operating in Star City in 2040. Indeed, if the Legends built up a good relationship with Yara Flor, there's absolutely no reason for them not to call on her during major events. And that's leaving aside the fact there are countless other ways to travel in time in the Arrowverse.
The most interesting question, of course, is just how this idea would dovetail with prior hints Wonder Woman exists in the Arrowverse. The island of Themyscira was itself seen in Legends of Tomorrow, and Batwoman season 1 (perhaps inadvertently) confirmed Wonder Woman is at large as well; Kate Kane made an offhand quip about Wonder Woman, establishing her existence in the Arrowverse. If Diana is the Wonder Woman of the present day, then what is Wonder Girl's connection to her in the Arrowverse? And if Yara Flor is set to replace Diana in the future, what will happen to the Arrowverse's own Wonder Woman? The storytelling possibilities opened up by a 2040 Wonder Girl series are massive, so it will be exciting to see if the Arrowverse decides to explore them.