‘Arrow’ Season 2: ‘Flash’ Introduction Compared to ‘Iron Man’ and ‘Hulk’
'Arrow' season 2 took a major swerve last month when producers announced that DC superhero The Flash would arrive in Starling City to set up his own spin-off, the 'Arrow' universe up to that point having purposefully excluded the use of superpowers. New comments from executive producer Marc Guggenheim suggest however, that 'Flash' won't tonally detract from the world of 'Arrow,' instead setting up a cohabitant relationship akin to Marvel's 'The Avengers.'
In particular, Guggenheim spoke to ComicBookResources of the character's introduction taking on a similar tone to that of 'Iron Man' and 'The Incredible Hulk,' wherein the latter's superhuman powers didn't necessarily alter the tone of 'Iron Man's more technology-based approach to comic book storytelling:
Arrow' is like 'Iron Man' where 'The Flash' will be 'The Hulk.' And just as 'The Hulk' coming out did not change the tone of the Iron Man movies, 'The Flash' will not change the tone of 'Arrow.' We're very cognizant of what 'Arrow' is all about, and I think the Marvel movies demonstrate that each piece of a universe can have its own feel.
'Thor' is consistent with the tone of Thor while 'Captain America' is consistent with the tone of Captain America's character. 'Arrow's' tone will remain consistent much in the same way, and we are looking forward to expanding our canvass a bit.
Guggenheim's words admittedly allay us a bit, as previously we'd begun to wonder if the announcement's timing with the recent 'Batman and Superman' reveal signified DC to be in a mad dash to catch up with Marvel's multi-angle cinematic franchise. So long as the tone established with 'Arrow' remained consistent in its grounded storytelling approach, a potential 'Flash' spinoff might not shake things up as much as fans fear.
In addition to teasing Metamorpho, The Atom and The Flash, ‘Arrow’ season 2 will pick up on October 9 some time after the events of season 1 finale “Sacrifice,” continuing its ‘Batman Begins’-influenced storytelling with the addition of new villains Isabel Rochev (Summer Glau), Brother Blood (Kevin Alejandro) and Bronze Tiger (Michael Jai White). Guest stars Colton Haynes (Roy Harper), Emily Bett Rickards (Felicity Smoak) and Manu Bennett (Slade Wilson) have all been upgraded to series regulars for the second year in Starling City.
Well, what do you think? Will 'Flash' change the world of 'Arrow' entirely, or could the two franchises comfortably live in separate corners of the same universe a la 'Iron Man' and 'Hulk?' Tell us how you'd like to see the DC cinematic universe handled on TV and film in the comments!