As the summer begins to wind down all the big networks have
started ramping up for the fall premieres. By this I of course mean that the small handful of networks
to feature comic book adaptations or genre shows are prepping for the fall
while everyone else continues to push their summer blockbuster shows like Tyrant, Under the Dome, or The
Humans. Among the ramp up to
the autumn of genre shows has been a ton of character reveals coming out of CW
for their shared universe of superhero shows, which includes The Flash, Arrow, and Legends of Tomorrow. There have been a bunch of reveals of
ultimately obscure characters like Atom Smasher, Mr. Terrific, Hawkman, Baron
Blitzkrieg, Vandal Savage, and Jay Garrick, to appear in the coming seasons. Individually these reveals wouldn’t
really matter but taken as a whole they actually build up to a pretty startling
picture, especially given statements by producers about Flash season 2’s emphasis on parallel realities and Legends of Tomorrow’s bent towards time
travel. The big question I’ve
ended up asking myself is…is CW planning to introduce the Justice Society of
America?
If you don’t know the Justice Society that’s probably why you came to this blog so let’s get cracking. The JSA was a team of superheroes created in the ‘30s during what’s referred to as the Golden Age of comics. This was in the era when heroes mainly fought the Nazis and Nazi related foes though unlike similar team, The Invaders, the Justice Society remained thoroughly state side. Eventually they faded in popularity and were forgotten but when superhero comics regained purchase in the later ‘50s DC decided to revive a bunch of old JSA characters as new heroes with old names. This is where we get characters like Flash, Green Lantern, and the Atom; they were originally bizarre JSA mystery men who were retrofitted for the age of the superhero. However, this revival brought some old readers back to comics and made them wonder what happened to their old favorites so DC introduced a crazy idea that would revolutionize pretty much all of fiction: the Multiverse.
The multiverse is something that’s already been hinted at
within The Flash but never fully
explained in any live action adaptation.
That’s probably because it’s a unique kind of comic book crazy that fits
better in stuff oriented towards weirdness rather than palatability. Basically it’s that there are an
infinite number of parallel universes that occupy the same space but vibrate at
a different molecular frequency.
These parallel worlds are similar to our own but with some variations,
the best example of this being the Mirror Universe from Star Trek the original series or pretty much everything from Bioshock Infinite. DC introduced the idea that the Justice
Society of America was actually still active only working in a different
universe from the JLA ad the modern heroes, a universe dubbed Earth-2.
That weird and fractured history has always kind of kept the
Justice Society out of most mainstream adaptations. They’ve only ever appeared in one DC animated series, the
excellent Batman: Brave and the Bold
show and even then this version wasn’t from an alternate universe. Their most public appearance is
probably in Smallville, in which they
were a team of heroes who fought in World War 2 but had retired for the most
part save for a few surviving members and newer heroes who took up the mantel
of their mentors.
As far as the modern CWverse goes I’d say it’s actually a
pretty good bet they’re plotting a JSA revival of some kind. At time of writing they’ve already got
7 confirmed JSA members and 2 prominent JSA villains featured in their upcoming
seasons of Flash and Arrow. The main question at hand is how the JSA will appear,
whether it will be a time travel based adventure, in which case they’ll
probably be confined to the realms of Legends
of Tomorrow, or if they’ll arise from Earth-2 and the multiverse which
would suggest a connection to The Flash.
My guess is it will actually be a sort of fusion of
both. Most likely what will happen
is that Flash season 2 will begin
building up the existence of a previous JSA team and current heroes with
relations to it like Atom Smasher or Hawkgirl. After this, events in Legends
of Tomorrow will involve meeting the classic team that fought and died
during world war 2, with the eventual realization that Earth-2 is a universe
where the legacy of the JSA continued into the present with a vast roster of
fellow heroes. Now as I mentioned
previous Jay ‘The First Flash’ Garrick, Hawkman, Hawkgirl, Mr. Terrific, Atom
Smasher, Black Canary, and Wildcat are all confirmed JSA members that will
appear on CW over the fall and spring but what other members might we see? Well I thought of 10.
DR. FATE
Dr. Fate is one of the few golden age heroes whose only grown
more important with time, a curious happenstance that’s most likely only the
case because his costume actually looks pretty good without needing any
changes. He was also one of the
few JSA members to appear in the Smallville
version; proving said costume looks solid in live action with very little
effort. Character wise he’s a
mystic lord of order tasked with defending reality using the helm of fate, a
mystic helmet that contains ancient knowledge. Arrow has been
jonesing to add a mystic element for awhile now, especially as we march towards
the Lazarus Pits and resurrection so it’d make sense to do that through the
JSA.
SANDMAN
Another Smallville
alumni, Sandman was in many ways a proto-Batman. He’s an easy stand in for the Bat as most of his stories
involve gritty, sleazy crime fighting but his costume is infinitely simpler,
basically just street clothes, a trench coat, and a gas mask. His origin is that he’s a wealthy World
War 1 veteran who fights crime with fast acting knock out gas. I assume that if they go with the
Sandman they’ll go with the newer iteration of the character where he had
prophetic dreams of horrid violence and had limited geokinetic powers.
CITIZEN STEEL
The biggest hindrance to doing this character is easily his costume. Citizen Steel is actually the 3rd
incarnation of a golden age hero named Commander Steel who was part of the
All-Star Squadron, a separate team of heroes that’s usually just lumped in with
the JSA because no one really has the time. The 2nd incarnation of the character was just
called Steel and actually served on the Justice League during the brief and
regrettable time it was located in Detroit. Said membership actually gives him a connection to ‘Cisco
Ramone on The Flash as he’s set to
become the superhero Vibe, another Justice League Detroit Alumni. Commander Steel is a pretty easy
character to realize, he’s super strong and invulnerable thanks to his skin
being completely covered in metal.
The biggest obstacle would be his kind of goofy costume but given we’re
gearing up for a 3rd Captain America film with the classic costume I
don’t really see the problem.
AMAZING MAN
Okay this one really is reaching now. Amazing Man was another bizarre
All-Star Squadron member from the series revival in the bronze age of
comics. His power is that anything
he touches his body becomes the material that composes the object, basically
the same power as the Absorbing Man from the Season 2 premiere of Agents of SHIELD. That episode is part of why I don’t
think Absorbing Man is that outlandish as it’s clear his powers are doable on a
TV budget. The character was
reinvented for the tail end of Geoff Johns’ phenomenal JSA run in the last days before the New 52 relaunch and enjoyed
some solid popularity. Best of all
he’d add a much needed black male hero to all the white guys on CW.
HOURMAN
Hourman was a scientist named Rex Tyler who developed a pill
that granted the taker super strength, speed, and agility for precisely 1
hour. He’s a solid character, a
reliable powerhouse and bruiser and even has a legacy as his son Rick Tyler
eventually became addicted to the super drug, miraclo, before becoming Hourman
himself. However I think it’s
equally likely that the Hourman we might see on CW is the 3rd
incarnation of the character, a super powered robot from the DC One Million continuity. This robot has a slew of time
manipulation related powers and even a ship that can chart the river of time so
he’d be a perfect fit to show up in something like Legends of Tomorrow.
DR. MID-NITE
Dr. Mid-Nite is the kind of character I’m honestly shocked
we haven’t seen already in the CW-verse, though that’s probably owed to their content
initially being more grounded and Batman-ish as opposed to the more Marvel
inspired order of the moment. Dr.
Mid-Nite a superhero surgeon with the added bonus of being blind. All three versions of the character
found a way around this but it’d essentially give CW a character with a similar
origin to both Daredevil and Dr. Strange.
They could easily go with the original Dr. Mid-Nite Charles McNider or
his successor Peter Cross as their costume is fairly easy, just a vest, cape,
and cowl. However, I’d like to see
them adapt the 2nd and somewhat forgotten Dr. Mid-Nite Beth Chapel,
who actually spelled the title as Midnight for no real reason. Chapel is sort of a forgotten hero but
she’d be a great addition to CW’s roster as a black woman and a nice companion
to Hawkgirl.
OBSIDIAN/ALAN
SCOTT
This is another issue of diversity and costume design and FX
budget making the ultimate decision.
Alan Scott was the original Green Lantern and a consistent member of
pretty much every JSA revival as well as a key figure in the world of DC Comics
espionage and spy stories. He
makes sense as a casting addition but his classical costume looks pretty dopey
and trying to realize the powers of Green Lantern seem fairly out of CW’s
range. They could get around the costume
issue by going with the New 52 Alan Scott who has a more sensible costume and
is also gay to add some nice diversity to the team but the technical
limitations of ability still exist.
What I think we might see is the character’s son Obsidian showing. Before Alan Scott was reimagined he was
actually straight and Obsidian was his gay son, in comics gayness is never
destroyed only transferred from character to character. Obsidian’s costume is easier to pull
off, just a cape and some inky blackness, and his powers are all shadow based
so they wouldn’t be as hard to realize on a TV budget. This would allow CW to have an Alan
Scott connection and some nice diversity without the budgetary issues of his
powers or the powers of his daughter Jade.
SILVER SCARAB/FURY
These two are probably pretty unlikely all things considered
but there’s enough evidence floating around to support a maybe. They’re a husband and wife superhero
team, a unique function in and of itself.
Silver Scarab is Hector Hall, the son of Hawkman and Hawkgirl who built
himself an super suit out of alien material. He’s the main reason these two seem possible, both his
parents are already confirmed for the CWverse and he’d make a nice mech suit
counterbalance to CW’s iteration of the Atom. Fury is less likely overall but the two often go
together. She’s a female fury from
the planet of Apocalypse, a home of incredibly powerful cosmic beings called the
New Gods.
JESSE
QUICK/LIBERTY BELL
These two aren’t actually conflicting characters but rather
two versions of the same hero. Jesse
Quick is the daughter of Johnny Quick, a golden age super speedster who ran
with folks like Jay Garrick or Max Mercury (another hero who seems to be
waiting in the wings on Flash.)
Jesse started out following her father on the super speed track and
often alongside Wally West, the third Flash, as a member of the Teen
Titans. Later she abandoned that
identity to pay homage to her mother by adopting the identity of Liberty Bell
though she could still access her super speed should the situation require
it. Jesse already has a ton of
connections to elements introduced on the Flash and she’d be a good speedster
to have around but if they wanted her to fit into the JSA that’d make sense
too.
STAR
There are so many legacy claims and follow-ups to the title
of Star Man it’s downright embarrassing.
That’s probably because Star Man was one of the most popular original
JSA members alongside Green Lantern, the other hero with a ton of
follow-ups. Star Man’s whole thing
was that he invented a device that stored and discharged cosmic energy,
basically the same power as Green Lantern’s ring but more limited in what it
could create. Arrow has already introduced Star Man’s home town of Opal City so
it seems like a sure bet we’ll see A version of the character show up. It could be Jack Knight, the son of the
original Star Man who was made famous during James Robinson’s career making
take on the material in the ‘90s.
I could also see it being Star Man IV, a member of the legion of
superheroes who went back in time and joined the JSA in the same run that
produced the new Amazing Man. Most
likely however is Star Girl, a young woman who initially took up the mantel of
Star Spangled Kid but inherited the Star Man legacy from Jack Knight when he
retired. Star Girl is a favorite
at DC and especially of Geoff Johns, he created the character and even modeled
her after his sister who died in a plain crash. Of all these characters Star Girl seems most likely to
appear given her prominence in the Smallville
JSA episode and easily executed costume and powers.
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