Highlights From The CW’s TCA 2016 Panel: Dolph Lundgren on ARROW, SUPERGIRL Adds Miss Martian and More

The CW held its panel at this summer’s Television Critics Association (TCA) tour, and plenty of DC television news was announced. New heroes and villains were revealed, Chris Wood’s Supergirl character was confirmed, Arrow made an exciting new addition to the cast, and that’s just the tip of the iceberg.

Check out the highlights below, courtesy of TV Line and TV Guide.

During Arrow‘s Russia-set flashbacks this season, Oliver Queen will be facing a formidable new foe. Action star Dolph Lundgren will play a big bad in a recurring role. Executive producer Wendy Mericle confirms to Entertainment Weekly that Lundgren’s character is Kovar, the dude namedropped by Taiana in the season four flashbacks. “We are going to bring him in and he’s going to be this super big badass guy who works for the Russian government, and is not a friend of Oliver or the Bratva.”

Executive producer Andrew Kreisberg teases that a character on one of The CW’s four superhero shows will come out and explore their sexuality this season. Greg Berlanti adds that this is a “significant” and already established character. Who will it be? The speculation begins now.

Actor Chris Wood was previously cast in an undisclosed, regular role on Supergirl this season. Today, it was confirmed that Wood is playing Mon-El, who was in that pod in the season one finale. In the comics, Mon-El possesses a similar powerset to Superman. He also has connections to the Legion of Superheroes.

Also on Supergirl, we’ll be meeting Miss Martian, aka M’gann M’orzz. Actress Sharon Leal is playing the character.

Moving on to The Flash…it was previously confirmed that this season’s two big bads are Dr. Alchemy and a new speedster. Well, the speedster has been revealed to be Savitar. An actor for this villain has yet to be announced.

As previously announced, Kevin Smith is returning to direct an episode of The Flash this season. He’s also set to direct an episode of Supergirl this year.

At Comic-Con last month, it was announced that Obsidian will be one of the Justice Society of America members on DC’s Legends of Tomorrow. Today, it was confirmed that actor Lance Henriksen is playing this hero. He makes his debut in episode five of season two.

A few weeks ago, a rumor suggested that Batwoman was going to appear on Supergirl, while The CW was in negotiations to bring Batman himself aboard. Well, both of those have been debunked.

And finally, Marc Guggenheim confirms that this season of Arrow will be the last of those flashbacks. Regarding how this year will contrast the past and present day versions of Oliver, he says, “It’s going to involve Oliver’s introduction into the Bratva. He’s basically recruited into this criminal organization. In the present day, he has recruits of his own. He’s a trainee in the past and a trainer in the present.”

Stay tuned for more DC TV news as we have it.

The Flash returns on Tuesday, October 4th at 8 PM EST. Arrow comes back on Wednesday, October 5th at 8 PM EST. Supergirl flies in on Monday, October 10th at 8 PM EST. And DC’s Legends of Tomorrow will reunite on Thursday, October 13th at 8 PM EST.