The best Arrowverse shows contributed to some of the most popular versions of these heroes, turning characters like Green Arrow and Batwoman into the leads of major TV series. With that said, even with so much time to tell great stories, the expansion and use of so many characters was at the expense of a few.
Arrowverse crossovers were common within the franchise, creating a cohesive world that felt consistent across its several series. However, while the comics had decades upon decades to develop their ing casts, each television series had a comparatively much shorter run. This left some figures with less development, due to the more limited timeframe the franchise had to execute their stories. The most significant of these are generally agreed upon, with some notable characters making up the majority of that consensus.
10 Lucy Lane
Appeared In Supergirl And Superman & Lois
Lucy Lane, played by Jenna Dewan, could have been an important character to the Arrowverse, and she could even have become Superwoman if certain comic stories had been followed. Instead, the character was relegated to a ing role, examining her familial tensions with Lois and their father. After some experience with the Inverse Society and time on Supergirl, Superman & Lois, never to be seen again.
This character could have easily been used more in the overarching narratives of the series she appeared in, especially with such a charismatic actor behind her. With familial stories being explored even outside the Arrowverse proper in Superman & Lois, and potential to explore how superpowers affect a family, there arguably should have been much more done with Lucy. Instead, she remained a minor character that many viewers and the series itself forgot about before it had even ended.
9 Ryan Choi
Appeared In The Flash, Arrow, And DC's Legends Of Tomorrow
Ryan Choi's The Atom is actually a fairly important DC character after being introduced in the comics in 2006. Rather than spending much time with him in the Arroweverse, however, Ryan Choi first appeared in the Crisis on Infinite Earths crossover as the Paragon of Humanity before a short turn as another universe's Atom in The Flash. The character was fine in these appearances, but had far too little to do considering his prospects and ties to many other DC heroes and storylines.
Instead, Ray Palmer - the original holder of The Atom mantle - was given the full focus on DC's Legends of Tomorrow, and his relationship with Choi was barely given any time within these shows. Ryan Choi's Atom has the potential to lead his own series, but was instead given a very limited ing role in a couple of storylines. While this wasn't bad, it was certainly a waste of some great material.
8 Brother Blood
Appeared In Arrow
Sebastian Blood served as the temporary mayor of Starling City and made a number of appearances throughout the series, generally linked with Deathstroke. While his appearances were decent, they did little to bring out the sheer terror that his design and background suggests. The potential for terrifying links to the supernatural through his cult could have made for compelling series progression, but his story was instead far too grounded.
The character is often linked with the Teen Titans, with the Titans version of Blood's story being generally considered a more successful one. Here, instead, Cyborg's arch-nemesis was relegated to a minor role. His death followed after defecting to Team Arrow, making his time in the Arrowverse feel extremely unfulfilled.
7 Vigilante
Vincent Sobel And Adrian Chase Appeared In Arrow
Vigilante has not been one of the most prominent characters in DC media through the years, although Adrian Chase has risen in popularity recently after a prominent ing role on Peacemaker. While the iteration in the Arrowverse was certainly built from the bones of the same comic book origins, the show introduced Vigilante as a new, original character, Vincent Sobel. More dour than interesting, this Vigilante was a violent murderer who stoically took out characters he decided deserved death.
Adrian Chase also appeared in the show, but he took on the identity of The Hood rather than Vigilante. Either way, neither of these iterations seemed to fully live up to the legacy of the original comic character. Instead, they were both made into minor foes of Arrow, neither of whom were able to provide much of a memorable threat across the run of the series.
6 Trickster
Appeared In The Flash
While already a strange twist on the Joker, the Arrowverse changed Trickster in The Flash in several ways that weren't especially effective. Featuring Mark Hamill, who used his Joker voice for the character in the '90s The Flash series before playing the Joker in Batman: The Animated Series, the Trickster was brought back in season 1 of the Arrowverse show. In this show, however, James Jesse was behind bars, and his character was only brought in to riff on his already-established Joker-like role.
Hamill has an incredible villain voice, but nothing interesting or original was done with the character in this series. Instead, it seems that the showrunners were looking to capitalize on Hamill's popularity as the Joker, and use some of that energy in this universe. Trickster wound up being an unsatisfying character, with a few appearances through the years as a B-list Joker, who could have used more of the comic lore to build a genuine and interesting threat.
5 Mister Terrific
Appeared In Arrow, The Flash, And DC's Legends Of Tomorrow
Mister Terrific is given almost no time to shine in the Arrowverse, despite being a fascinating hero with some considerable comic history. Rather than taking on much of a role as a crimefighting hero, Holt was generally relegated to working as technical for Team Arrow. In this role, he did some notable good, but it didn't give him much time to wear his wrestling-inspired costume and fight crime.
This version of the hero was only a loose adaptation, and did provide the opportunity to still see some of Mister Terrific onscreen. However, most agree that the character was more effective as Curtis than as his superhero alter-ego, who was not an especially memorable take. Curtis eventually left the series and Team Arrow to take a job in Washington, D.C.
4 The Shade
Appeared In The Flash And Stargirl
Shade, a Flash villain from the comics, first appears in an unusual form during the episode "Shade". In this episode, a villain referred to as Shade appears with the ability to vibrate his molecules at such a frequency that he essentially becomes a shadow. The character in the comics was much more interesting and strange, with a design that had almost nothing to do with the character that the series introduced.
Because of the lack of many of The Shade's important features, a different version of the character was later introduced in Stargirl. This version was much closer to the comic book origins of the character. With that said, it is notable that a character who was supposed to be important to The Flash would be used in such a strange, disappointing, and limited way in The Flash series.
3 Hawkman & Hawkgirl
Appeared In The Flash, Arrow, And DC's Legends Of Tomorrow
Hawkman and Hawkgirl have had a long comic history, and yet the characters have been given insufficient focus in some of the biggest DC projects like the Arrowverse. Fortunately, that is set to change with a new Hawkgirl in Superman. Still, in the meanwhile, these heroes were only given a limited scope in the Arrowverse. They were provided with incredible designs, but neither of the two made much of an impact, with Hawkman especially given limited screentime in the franchise.
The ancient origins of these heroes is an interesting story that could make for some great television, but this was only given a limited look within the larger franchise. Legends of Tomorrow after the first season, despite having many more stories to tell. Hopefully, their stories will be given greater focus in the DCU.
2 Wally West
Appeared In The Flash & DC's Legends Of Tomorrow
Cited by many as probably the most underused speedster in the Arrowverse, Wally West was not given nearly enough screentime in The Flash series. The character was introduced as The Flash of another universe before becoming Kid Flash in the main series. From there, it seemed there that were few effective story opportunities used to highlight the character, and Wally West soon left The Flash to Legends of Tomorrow.
This too was a limited move, for only a season. Perhaps there was simply not enough room for another Flash inside of the Arrowverse, because most agree that the character was not used to his potential. After bouncing around these two series, Wally West left the franchise, with his character having never been given nearly as much of a prominent role as he deserved.
1 Red Death
Appeared In The Final Season Of The Flash
Red Death is a truly wild villain from DC Comics, with an origin that saw a multiversal Batman gaining Flash's powers. Tasked with sending the DC Multiverse into darkness, the villain is a truly terrifying threat. Enhancing one of the greatest minds in the DC Universe with corrupted access to the speed force is an incredible promise. However, this was done in a somewhat disappointing way during The Flash's final season.
Rather than Bruce Wayne, the Arrowverse used Ryan Wilder, their second Batwoman, as the villain Red Death. Javicia Leslie played the role, and several scenes that came out of it were effective, although the execution did not befit what should have been a big, epic, and emotional final season of The Flash. Instead, rather than being a truly terrifying foe, Red Death felt like a repeat of earlier moments in the Arrowverse, bringing the character's role in the universe to an unceremonious end.
- Created by
- Greg Berlanti, Marc Guggenheim, Andrew Kreisberg, Phil Klemmer, Geoff Johns
- First TV Show
- Arrow
- Latest TV Show
- Batwoman
- First Episode Air Date
- October 10, 2012
- Latest Episode
- 2023-05-24
- Cast
- Stephen Amell, Grant Gustin, Melissa Benoist, Caity Lotz, Cress Williams, Ruby Rose, Javicia Leslie
The Arrowverse is a shared universe centered on multiple television series airing on The CW and web series based on characters from DC Comics. It began with Arrow in 2012 and expanded to include shows like The Flash, Supergirl, and Legends of Tomorrow, creating a vast interconnected narrative that includes numerous crossovers and parallel universes.
