What’s Next? Ten DC Properties That Deserve The Arrow Treatment

Arrow happened to be the biggest CW launch since The Vampire Diaries, and this year, DC Comics competitor Marvel enters the comic book adaptation fray at ABC with Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D.. The CW wants hits; DC Comics and parent company Warner Bros. want to bring their characters to more media… could that mean another DC property could come to the network sooner rather than later?

Of course, there are the on-again, off-again talks about Wonder Woman with Amazon, which just got a new writer in Heroes’ Aron Eli Coleite. But if we had to narrow it down to five DC properties that might also be perfect for The CW in particular, where would we go?

We’ve done columns like this before at KryptonSite, so if it feels like old hat, we apologize, but hey… it’s a different TV world now. We’ve got things like Arrow being a huge hit and S.H.I.E.L.D. being possibly the most anticipated new show of Fall 2013. A new Superman movie, Man Of Steel, is on the way, and Iron Man 3 just made an armor-load full of money. Here are our suggestions for ten concepts we think would be fantastic for DC on The CW. Please note, Wonder Woman is not included on this list because we figure they’re already on it, and we’ve kept away from Superman concepts for now since we won’t have a good idea on where any of that stands until after June 14 with the release of the new movie.

TEEN TITANS/YOUNG JUSTICE
The Pitch: This one could fit perfectly into the Arrow universe, actually. Spin off Colton Haynes’ Roy Harper, maybe take Thea with him, and team up with some titanic young people, and, bam. Instant series. I can see wanting to keep to the more affordable, less super powered folks, but at the same time, characters like Raven, an actually-cybernetic Cyborg, and a maybe-not-so-green Beast Boy would be fun to see. Robin/Nightwing/whatever you want to call him would be cool, too, provided the rights could be had.
Why It Could Work: An ensemble could mean every part of the audience has a favorite. To focus on a cast full of young people, some of whom may have powers, would differentiate it from things like S.H.I.E.L.D. or any Justice League feature film that might be planned. Also, folks like Colton Haynes and Willa Holland seem to be very well-liked among the Arrow fan base.
Why It Might Not: If done as an Arrow spin-off, that would mean losing some characters who may be destined for bigger things on Arrow itself. Also, if powered characters are involved, it might conflict with The CW’s new Tomorrow People TV series, which is also about young people with powers.

THE FLASH
The Pitch: The Fastest Man Alive. That’s all you need to know. Visual effects are a lot cheaper to do than in 1990 when the first Flash TV series was attempted, and the notion of a young guy who is so fast yet can’t keep up with everything in every day life is cool. It’s kind of Smallville-y without the alien factor.
Why It Could Work: Many of the reasons were just listed above. The WB wanted a Flash show a few years after Smallville, but the project fell apart for reasons unknown. Then again, that version involved a time-traveling college student. The Flash is a well-known DC property; one of the biggest outside of DC’s Big Three of Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman.
Why It Might Not: DC/WB have wanted to get a movie off the ground for a long time, so there might be a conflict. Then again, using a different Flash for TV’s Flash — like, say, Jay Garrick, whose role in the “Earth 2” comic book series is very accessible, could work to differentiate them. I also fully admit I have a Wally West bias, but I’m not naive enough to think Wally would get a chance in the sun right now when he’s not even appearing in any comic books. I might as well just wait for Stephanie Brown in a TV show.

BOOSTER GOLD
The Pitch: Arrow’s Andrew Kreisberg has pitched this. To Syfy.
Why It Could Work: If Syfy doesn’t stop shuffling their feet and ultimately passes, Booster could be a fun character for The CW, in that he is so different from anything else on the network. This could be an American answer to Doctor Who.
Why It Might Not: Syfy might just keep it in development hell forever. Also, although the network has embraced sci-fi, might Booster Gold be TOO MUCH sci-fi fun?

NIGHTWING
The Pitch: Former teen sidekick ends up becoming a more well balanced hero than his mentor, as he protects Bludhaven from crime.
Why It Could Work: Try pretending you don’t get excited WHENEVER Bludhaven is mentioned on Arrow.
Why It Might Not: Christopher Nolan might still have Nightwing on a leash. It is said that he did keep The Graysons from happening, but then again, Dick Grayson before he’s Robin doesn’t make a lot of sense anyway. Also, would two dark vigilantes on one network be too much?

MANHUNTER (KATE SPENCER)
The Pitch: Superhero action meets Law & Order as Kate Spencer doubles as the vigilante Manhunter.
Why It Could Work: It’s a strong female lead, plus, who doesn’t like procedurals?
Why It Might Not: You’d need the right casting for Kate Spencer to make it work, and a costume/outfit that doesn’t look too silly in live action. Still, if we can’t have Diana, this is a great alternative for a heroine-fronted show.

STARMAN (JACK KNIGHT)
The Pitch: Young guy who loves old stuff inherits his father’s ultimate antique – a “cosmic rod” that gives him abilities, including flight.
Why It Could Work: James Robinson’s Starman TV series was populated with a great supporting cast and recurring villains like The Shade; it also successfully mined the history of the DC Comics universe, going back to the Golden Age.
Why It Might Not: This was attempted back in 2003 for ABC, and didn’t get past the script stages. That might have been a good thing as several important elements were cut. Now, James Robinson himself is a screenwriter, so it might be worthwhile if Robinson himself were writing. Then again, DC Comics seems to be focusing on Stargirl as the keeper of the cosmic rod these days, so they might not want to put such a large spotlight on an obsolete version of the character.

GOTHAM CENTRAL
The Pitch: The police force in Gotham City, populated with such great characters as Renee Montoya. Kind of like how S.H.I.E.L.D. interacts with the Marvel Universe of the Avengers, an ideal Gotham Central would have ties to Christopher Nolan’s Bat-verse.
Why It Could Work: S.H.I.E.L.D. Plus, good characters.
Why It Might Not: Like how Clark Gregg appears in S.H.I.E.L.D., you’d need a tie to the movies to really make it stick… and I don’t think, say, Gary Oldman would do TV, unless he’s paid a lot of money.

CHALLENGERS OF THE UNKNOWN
The Pitch: That’s the fun thing: An adventure with a bunch of scientific folks seeking out the unknown is something that could be pretty much anything!
Why It Could Work: The concept is versatile, and it could bring to light a DC concept that has been largely forgotten over the decades. It’s been pitched as a TV series before, but the pitches never seemed to go anywhere.
Why It Might Not: Challengers of the who?

SWAMP THING
The Pitch: The current Swamp Thing comic book has been incredibly successful, and the monster/woman romance between Swamp Thing and Abby Arcane is one that many people might want to follow.
Why It Could Work: Just imagine how cool a beautiful woman with mostly white hair playing Abby on weekly network TV could be. Swamp Thing is a known character, and a known property…Why It Might Not: …seeing how “beastly” The CW’s Beast in Beauty And The Beast is, we might get stuck with an Alec Holland who looks like a supermodel but has a green scar.

Y THE LAST MAN
The Pitch: One guy and his monkey in a world where all the other men are eliminated.
Why It Could Work: This concept seems perfect for serialized TV, and could really take off in a Walking Dead like fashion. It’d also be a great showcase to involve a lot of female talent, since, barely any guys and all. Brian K. Vaughan, the series’ creator, is a known TV writer as well. He just did CBS’ Under The Dome.
Why It Might Not: The movie people seem determined to do this first. Also, it’s quite possible a series like this, if it did go to TV, would go to premium cable.

Somewhere out there, we’d also still like to see those Spectre and Deadman pitches. Maybe someday. And some crazy-out-there concepts like Adam Strange might work for TV, too, and we’d love to see something like Injustice: Gods Among Us in live action, but hey, that’ll probably be saved for movies, and also, we had to keep it to ten.

Do you have thoughts? Leave some in the comments section below!