ARROW News Bits: Title For Second Half Of THE FLASH Crossover, New Ra’s al Ghul Details, Season 3 To Be More Grounded
This latest news round-up for Arrow offers some very interesting new details regarding the show’s highly anticipated third season. First up, writer and executive producer Marc Guggenheim has confirmed that episode eight of the season, which is the second part of its crossover event with The Flash, will begin production on Monday. Its title is “The Brave and the Bold.” This should be a very recognizable title to DC fans, as “The Brave and the Bold” was known as a team-up comic series. While the focus would sometimes be on Batman partnering with other heroes, the title has also starred The Flash and Green Lantern, with Green Arrow thrown into the mix from time to time. This is the perfect title for the second half of the Arrow/The Flash crossover, with the first part titled “Flash vs. Arrow.” Both parts are expected to air in November.
Guggenheim has also appeared on KFI AM 640 (via Comic Book Resources) to discuss what to expect from Arrow Season 3. While he confirms that Oliver will receive some “new toys” this year, he also reveals that this season will be more grounded than the second year. Guggenheim says that, following last year’s focus on Deathstroke and the Mirakuru, Arrow will return to the more realistic roots of its first season. “We’re not really planning on revisiting superpowers or enhanced abilities during season three. We are really returning to the show’s roots of a very grounded world where it’s very realistic. We may take occasional artistic license with things, but for the most part, everything is pretty well and truly grounded in real-life things and real-life science.” Well, the series will be crossing over with The Flash – a very superpowered character – this season, so I assume that will be one of the exceptions to this year’s grounded rule. It’s also likely that this move was made partly to have it stand out more from its superpowered spin-off series. Also, with Brandon Routh confirming that his Ray Palmer will be receiving an Atom costume at some point, perhaps his powers would be based on real-life science?
Guggenheim continues, “I think what people will find when they watch season three is that the operatic scope of season two didn’t really come from the presence of enhanced abilities or superpowers, it really came from the stories and the characters, and that stuff ain’t changing.” Talk then turns to the season’s big bad, Ra’s al Ghul (Matt Nable). Guggenheim discusses here how the iconic DC villain has been built up over Arrow‘s first two seasons and how he raises the stakes higher than ever. “We definitely have been building to this character for the last two, now going on three years of the show. I think his presence on the show really raises the stakes significantly, because his reputation has had a chance to build over the course of two years. We’ve heard Oliver talk about this mysterious man, and all the dangers that he presents, and now we finally get to meet him.” For more from Guggenheim, click the link above.
Speaking of Ra’s al Ghul, Arrow executive producer Andrew Kreisberg has offered more details on what to expect from The CW’s take on the villain. Speaking with Entertainment Weekly, he confirms that Matt Nable’s version of al Ghul will be more “comic book-y” than Liam Neeson’s take in The Dark Knight Trilogy. “Now that the Arrow/Flash universe contains people with powers and contains the Mirakuru serum, it gives us a bit more license to be a little more ‘comic book-y’ than certainly even Christopher Nolan set out to do.” Kreisberg then reaffirms that the decision to have the League of Assassins leader as the Season 3 villain was made because he fit perfectly into the season’s overall theme: identity. “A lot of the themes for Oliver’s journey that we were discussing this season are wrapped up in identity. Can he be both Oliver Queen and the Arrow? A lot of that turned out to get tied up with what we thought of Ra’s al Ghul and who he was and where he came from and what his ultimate goals are. All of those things lined up perfectly.”
Stay tuned for more news as we have it. Arrow returns to The CW on October 8th.
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