It’s been a big year for DC television, and the Arrow Universe definitely left us wanting more in 2016. Arrow and The Flash both just had their big mid-season finales before going on hiatus over the holidays. There were a lot of huge reveals and some pretty intense cliffhangers. We wanted to look back on some of the most important things that happened this season, in case you missed them… especially since the spin-off Legends of Tomorrow is hitting small screens in January. Arrow and The Flash are clearly setting the stage for a lot of really big things to happen with Rip Hunter and Vandal Savage.
Hawkman & Hawkgirl Arrive
Despite Hawkgirl‘s popularity thanks to the Justice League cartoon, Hawkman has always been made fun of more than any superhero besides Aquaman. If you read the comics, you love him as a gruff badass, but most people don’t really understand anything about him. What’s his deal? He has wings and wears a silly bird mask? Arrow dove right into his complicated backstory as a reincarnated Egyptian prince doomed to endlessly pursue his true love throughout history and die horribly in every lifetime. Even more importantly, it was great to see him as a heavy-hitter smacking Flash around with his mace.
Constantine Returns
Tragically, not enough people watched the short-lived Constantine series on NBC to keep it running for longer than a season. Despite numerous campaigns to bring it to another network, we all thought it was finally dead when efforts failed earlier this year. Matt Ryan got to revive his role as the devilishly charming John Constantine on Arrow this season, in a landmark crossover episode. We don’t know how much of the Constantine series is canon to Arrow, but his continuity also includes DCU heavy-hitters like Doctor Fate, Felix Faust, and the Spectre.
The Resurrection of Sara Lance
A lot of people were angry when Sara Lance got killed in the beginning of season 3. Her murder at the hands of a brainwashed Thea Queen seemed like the writers just dropped a bridge on her for no reason. It’s been fun seeing Laurel Lance become the new Black Canary, but a lot of people were angry that they sacrificed the fan-favorite Sara. Thanks to the Lazarus Pit, and Constantine restoring her soul, Sara is back and better than ever. We can’t wait to see her appearing as the new hero White Canary in Legends of Tomorrow.
The New Firestorm
Ronnie Raymond, the original Firestorm, supposedly died off-camera in this season’s The Flash premiere. Like we believe that for a second! In the comics, Ronnie is replaced by Jason Rusch when he dies. Arrow already used Jason Rusch in season 1, so they turned to a different character from the comics. Franz Drameh, star of cult sci-fi hit Attack the Block, is portraying Jefferson Jackson. In the show, Jackson has no previous connection to Firestorm, but in the comics, he was Ronnie Raymond’s best friend in college. Drameh will be reprising this role, alongside Victor Garber as Martin Stein, in the upcoming Legends of Tomorrow series.
Meet Wally West
Wally West, the third Flash and the one that many of us grew up with, has always been a fan-favorite character. In the comics he was originally Kid Flash until he took over when Barry Allen died. Thanks to his fun-loving personality and his appearances on the Justice League cartoon, many fans love him even more than Barry. DC took Wally out of the spotlight for awhile when Barry Allen became the Flash again, but they recently reintroduced him as a delinquent black teenager. We don’t know a lot about him so far based on his one appearance on The Flash, but it seems like this version is an adult barely younger than Barry.
For everything you’ll ever want to know about Arrow and The Flash, check out the Arrow and Flash Wikia, home to over 2,000 pages about the show.