The Arrow verse brought an entire shared universe of DC heroes on television screens for the public in a way that the movie side of the franchise never quite achieved. Start 2012 with Arrow and soon ready to finish The Speedlights final season in May 2023, The Arrowverse has adapted many favorite characters, including Green Arrow, The Flash, Supergirl, Batwoman, and Black Lightning. The series also excelled in bringing in heroes for supporting roles like Dreamer, The Atom, Vixen, Brainiac-5, and Speedy, to name a few.
But for all the great DC hero adaptations, there were a few that the Arrowverse dropped the ball on. Whether it’s scheduling conflicts with actors, moving the series in a different direction, or writing itself into a corner with a hero, there are ten instances where the Arrowverse let the hero down. Here are the 10 greatest heroes the Arrowverse has messed with.
10 Doctor Light
Doctor Light was featured twice on The flash, both times as a villain. While there was a villain version of Doctor Light, both Flash versions are spins on Kimiyo Hoshi’s heroic incarnation. The first version is revealed to be the Earth 2 counterpart of Linda Park, who was a girlfriend of Barry Allen at the time. The second version followed the new timeline created by Crisis on Infinite Earths and was Kimiyo Hoshi, but instead of being a science hero, she is an assassin.
To make matters worse, Kimiyo Hoshi is an important part of the Crisis on Infinite Earths comic storyline, but instead of making her part of that event sequence, she is saved for later and made a villain. There was a place for her in the event, as they could have traded her for Ryan Choi.
9 huntress
Helena Bertinelli as well huntress was one of the first major DC heroes to be brought to the Arrowverse. She appeared in season one of Arrow as an ally and love interest to Oliver Queen/Green Arrow. Huntress left in season one and although she would make a cameo appearance in season two, the character was never seen or heard from again.
It was a shame, as Jessica De Gouw captured the intensity of the character and has great chemistry with star Stephen Amell and would have become a natural member of Team Arrow in the later season.
8 Gypsy
Gypsy was drastically reworked from her DC Comics counterpart, here envisioned as a bounty hunter from a parallel universe in the multiverse with powers similar to those of Cisco Ramone, aka Vibe. The two start a relationship and even try to make it work long distance, but they break up.
If that had been the ending, it might have been fine, but the character is killed off screen and used to motivate Cisco. What’s even more frustrating is that she was killed off shortly before the events of Crisis on Infinite Earths and the character would have been an essential part of the crossover event.
7 Jesse Swift
Jesse Swift was introduced in season two of The flash as the daughter of Harry Wells and both originating from Earth 2. Jesse eventually gained superpowers and became an apprentice to Barry Allen’s Flash and was a recurring character on the show in seasons three and four as the protector of both Earth 2 and Earth 3 when Jarry Garrick went missing.
Jesse sadly felt underused as part of Team Flash and was subsequently killed off-screen leading up to Crisis on Infinite Earths. Jessie Quick actress Violet Beane was the star of the series God has befriended me which may have affected her schedule by reprising her role in the crossover event, but even after the event in the rewritten universe, the character is still dead. This was a bad decision for one of The Flash’s earliest sidekicks and also one of the longest-standing heroes in the Arrowverse.
6 Hawkman
Hawkman was first introduced during the crossover event between Arrow And The flash in an effort to build Legends of tomorrow. Hawkman was with the team for two episodes before being killed off and then revealed to have turned into a villain in the final episodes of season one.
As he returned to the side of the heroes season one of Legends of tomorrow ended when Hawkman left the team and would only make one more appearance in the 100th episode of Legends of tomorrow. Hawkman is one of the earliest heroes in DC Comics history, and his arrival felt like a big deal, while his departure was a defeat.
5 Black canary
Many heroes in the Arrowverse took on the mantle of Black canary, but the one most underutilized was Laurel Lance. Laurel Lance certainly got the writers’ shaft, as her journey to taking over the mantle of Black Canary from her sister Sara Lance was one of the most inspiring. Although Arrow dropped the idea of Laurel and Oliver as long-term romantic partners from the comics, Black Canary remained an important member of his team.
Still, Laurel was killed off in season four, and while star Katie Cassidy would play Laurel’s Earth 2 evil counterpart Black Siren for later seasons of Arrow it felt like a poor replacement for the original character. To make matters worse, Laurel is not revived in the rebooted timeline Oliver creates after Crisis on Infinite Earth.
4 Mrs Marshman
Mrs Marshman is a relatively new character in the comics, first introduced in 2006. She gained popularity due to her inclusion in the popular animated series Young Justice. Miss Martian made the jump to live-action super girl, but in a drastically different form. Instead of being Martian Manhunters’ niece, she’s a separate Martian so the writers can keep them interested, which definitely doesn’t feel right. In addition, the series used her in a few episodes, but largely forgot about her and wasted a favorite character by giving her little to do.
3 hawk girl
hawk girl seemed to become an important aspect of the Arrowverse at first. The character was dropped from the name in the first season The flash as part of the heroes’ future, and she was a central character in a crossover event between The Flash and Arrow before being turned into one of the main protagonists in Legends of tomorrow.
Still, the series never found anything interesting to do with her, despite trying to link her to the Atom. The character has been written out Legends of tomorrow after season one and was never seen or heard from again, including in the epic crossover event Crisis on Infinite Earths. Hawkgirl is a popular character with fans and the Arrowverse unfortunately never knew how to use her.
2 Ragman
Ragman was introduced in season five of Arrow, originally as a threat to the team before quickly becoming an ally. A man with ancient magical suit casings, Ragman added a new type of muscle to Team Arrow and his alter ego Rory Regan was a calm, level-headed teammate who contrasted with some of the other members of the team.
Still, Ragman was too powerful for Team Arrow’s street-level crimes, and sadly, he was written out of the series. Instead of moving the character to Legends of tomorrow or even The flashRagman faded into the background of the universe.
1 Kid Flash
The character who unfortunately got the short end of the stick in the Arrowverse was without a doubt Wally West, aka Kid Flash. Wally West is one of the most important characters in DC Comics as he became The Flash after the death of Barry Allen and to a whole generation of heroes he was The Flash.
The Arrowverse has done a good job of planting the seeds for the character, slowly bringing him in and gradually making him a member of Team Flash. Even when he gained powers, he was an important part of the series, but the series was never able to put the spotlight on Barry Allen and struggled to find a place for Wally West.
Wally West eventually left and joined the Legends of tomorrow, but even there the writers struggled to find a place for him, and it only lasted one season. Wally West had a lot of potential and star Keiynan Lonsdale brought everything to the character, giving him many of the signature qualities fans of Wally West would want. Still, the character was sadly one of many that the Arrowverse never found a quiet place for. Hopefully the last season of The flash will be able to do justice to the hero.