‘Arrow’ Atom Spinoff Details: New DC Villain, Firestorm Absence and More

We still don’t know what to make of Arrow and The Flash’s untitled teamup spinoff, featuring Brandon Routh’s Atom, a returning Caity Lotz and many more, but producers aren’t shy about teasing new details. Find out our first taste of the major unknown DC villain in store, along with notable absences from the roster and more!

Arrow and The Flash producer Greg Berlanti spoke to a number of outlets about the unusual TV teamup outing, which for now lacks a formal series order, but seems on target for a midseason 2016 debut. In particular, Berlanti spoke to Variety about the roster of heroes and villains selected for the new series, which looks to be as tonally distinct as The Flash was from its predecessor:

In picking them, it was very much about picking, ‘who are some of the most popular characters we’ve created?’ and also, tonally, who went with who? How disparate could we make it?. And we’re also introducing these three new characters that we’re casting right now… I think it’s really important that we have another female hero on the show, and this one is really exciting. I can’t wait for people to find out — we just have to cast it right, as always. And then you want that Rat Pack-y kind of vibe of all this crew hanging out, as disparate and as different as they are.

Moreover, where we already have at least one villain among the ranks in Wentworth Miller’s Captain Cold, the new spinoff will be “making sure that the villain that we have on that show is distinct too… another big character who hasn’t been used yet.” For as many inclusions however, fans couldn’t help note the absence of Robbie Amell’s Ronnie Raymond, the other half of Victor Garber’s Martin Stein / Firestorm, to which Berlanti told EW of a specific reason for the omission, albeit “I can’t say why.”

We likely won’t have long to wait before learning how Brandon Routh’s Ray Palmer, Victor Garber’s Firestorm, Wentworth Miller’s Captain Cold or Caity Lotz all tie together, but what other major DC characters might make up the roster? How should the new Arrow spinoff differentiate itself from the other two series?