Hey youtubers it’s charlie and lots of Arrow stuff to talk about. We got a new trailer
with Ra’s Al Ghul that I’ll breakdown and a couple big new cast members in the last
week. Most notably Ra’s Al Ghul but just as I was writing this they announced JR Ramirez
as the Ted Grant Wildcat. I’ll mention him briefly but mostly this video will just be
about the trailer. I’ll do a separate video just for Wildcat.
Hello new people, if you’re just now finding me or you found me during Comic Con I do Arrow
and Flash videos every week. Be sure to subscribe to get everything. At the end of this video
I’ll announce the winner of the giveaway.
So let’s rip that trailer apart. Frame for frame. Right of the bat you see the brand
new motion logo Warner Brothers made for Arrow. They made a red flash one and a rainy depressing
looking one for Gotham. It’s like they uploaded a custom banner for each new DC TV Show. I
didn’t see a Constantine one, but they just might not have released it yet.
The opening voice over where Oliver is looking out over the city is a line from Huntress
last season. I almost thought it was Thea, but really the first half of the trailer is
a recap of Season 2, so everything is taken from those episodes. So the line is clipped
directly from the Birds of Prey episode.
We see all the big WTF action scenes and the progression of Deathstroke’s plan to crush
Oliver into darkness by Killing Moira, everyone and everything he loves. This is the first
promo of the season, so a lot of this is just to help new people catch up with the plot.
What really ended up happening and what Oliver says in that final line to Slade is that all
that crazy shit galvanized him into a hero. So in episode 1 of season 3. Oliver is full
on embracing his role as a hero of the city.
Here’s where we start seeing new footage. The opening line is from the new character
Maseo Yamashiro, played by Karl Yune. He’s going to be Oliver’s Diggle in the Hong
Kong Flashbacks. His wife is Katana. Although in the past she might not have taken up that
name yet. In the comics, she only becomes Katana after her husband is murdered. So we’ll
have to see how closely Arrow is sticking to the comics.
What he’s talking about when he says a man can’t live by two names. He’s just talking
about secret identities and alter egos. In the flashbacks, Oliver still hasn’t become
the hero. So part of his journey is going to be learning who he really is. Is he Oliver
Queen billionaire or is he going to try and be a force for justice.
The context they’re speaking in is a little weird. Katana and her husband are going to
be Oliver’s Hong Kong handlers. They work for Amanda Waller. Probably not by choice,
but Oliver is forced to work for her too. So together, the three of them will try to
make the best of a bad situation and learn how to serve justice while still being under
the thumb of ARGUS. Like learning to be the better man despite
circumstances telling him his job is to be Waller’s hitman.
Then we see Oliver addressing what’s left of Queen Industries after Slade and Isobel’s
influence have been purged. I’m not sure if she ran it into the ground or just pushed
Oliver out. I’ll explain more about that in a sec when we see Brandon Routh.
This blue looking scene is connected to the new medium bad Werner Zyrtle also called Count
Vertigo played by Peter Stormare. It’s probably his lab where he manufactures the Vertigo
drug.
Here where Laurel says she and Oliver are business partners it kind of ties in directly
with the next scene but Laurel helps Oliver get the funds to buy back his company. Thus
she becomes his business partner. But wait, in this next scene Ray Palmer also known as
The Atom swoops in or shrinks in I should say. Brandon Routh is essentially buying a
controlling interest in Oliver’s company. Making him Oliver’s new boss.
This isn’t a bad thing, because the Atom is another Justice League member who will
eventually join team Arrow. It’s just that when they first meet it’s super awkward.
Plus he’s going to compete with Oliver for Felicity’s affections. I know a lot of you
Olicity shippers will grind your teeth, but Brandon Routh is a cool dude so this is going
to be fun.
Ray Palmer’s business relationship with Oliver will of course over time turn into
a night time vigilante relationship. That’s one of the major arcs of the season. The evolution
of Ray Palmer into the Atom.
Then Oliver is explaining to Diggle that because he’s got a mini Diggle he can’t keep putting
himself in danger. Diggle and Lyla’s baby will be another big arc for David Ramsey.
Diggle balancing fatherhood with night time activities. I know everyone wanted to see
a Connor Hawke arc with Oliver, but it seems like they’re giving that to Diggle’s character.
Here’s the first look of Peter Stormare as Count Vertigo. I don’t know if he’s
going to call himself that or if it will just be an affectation that other people attach
to him because of all the Vertigo he sells. His real name is Werner Zytle.
I think that when he’s talking about Oliver refusing to die, he’s talking about the
big attack during the first episode as well as season 2 with Slade. It seems like Count
Vertigo has history with Starling City. Like he watched all the crap go on last season
and waited for his moment to jump in and start pushing Vertigo Drugs again.
Here’s Black Canary, back in black leather kicking butt. They announced she was coming
back so this isn’t a surprise. But it’s hard to tell who’s ass she’s kicking.
It looks like it might be Sin and the guy she was beating up might have been trying
to hurt her. They way they edited it is a little confusing. This hoodie person is not
the person she just took down. Her next scene is one from last season, the
episode where she took off. It’s teeing up the Olicity arc that’s going to be a
big deal this year. When I say Olicity, I’m just talking about the show dealing with the
sexual tension in a more literal context.
Cut to said proposal and then said date. Stephen Amell was asked at comic con how their date
would go and he laughed and said “Horribly”. You’ll see why in a sec. But their conversation.
It’s about Oliver explaining his time in Hong Kong.
Cut to Hong Kong parkour. I believe this person is Karl Yune again. Probably when he and Oliver
first meet. He’s not just his handler and his friend. He’s also going to continue
Oliver’s training along with Katana. It doesn’t start out as a very happy partnership.
The next scene kind of explains all that Hong Kong craziness in the earlier scene. Oliver
is trying to escape Hong Kong and Waller is keeping him there to serve her purpose. I
love how there’s Green Cloth covering the windows. Foreshadowing much?
This is just another scene from him trying to escape. That parkour fight with Maseo.
Cut to rooftop reveal of Oliver on the same roof where we saw Caity Lotz. I’m guessing
they’re taking out someone in that first episode. Most of the footage in these are
from the first couple of episodes only.
But then we see Roy in his new costume. He’s the Arsenal version of Roy Harper. Stephen
Amell joked that he now had the second best costume on the show. Just because Colton’s
looks so cool. He’s right, Roy’s costume is way better than Olivers.
Quentin here is in his captain’s uniform with a shaved head and a hat. This is his
costume for season 3, so to speak. Paul Blackthorne looks a little strange at first with a shaved
head. But I like it. The bright light they have him framed in here pretty much tells
you he’s riding high.
He’s in a position of power and able to use the police force to help Team Arrow take
down bad guys.
WTF is this? Star City? I know a lot of you comic book fans will get excited about this.
In the comics. Star City is the name of Oliver Queen’s home. Starling city is just something
Arrow changed.
It looks like Ray Palmer is going to try and rejuvenate and re-brand the entire city. Which
seems kind of strange at first. Think of Starling City as an analog of Coast City. The one that
was destroyed during Reign of the Supermen. Hank Henshaw, the cyborg superman wiped it
off the face of the map. But eventually with the help of the earth’s super heroes and
the green lantern corps, the city was rebuilt as the “City Without Fear”. That was also
a tie in to the Sinestro Corps war storyline. Which was also a Geoff Johns written story.
I love how you see his fingerprints over all these elements of Arrow.
Ray Palmer on Arrow is going to be a tech genius, so whatever his plan for revitalizing
Starling City is, it will be tech based.
This fandom heart attack is what happens after the Olicity date in that first episode. So
now you understand why Stephen Amell said their date goes horribly. She’s obviously
going to recover. But this is the event that shocks Oliver awake. He’s kind of been “coasting”
in the months of vacation time since Slade was stuck in that ARGUS prison.
I know everyone was excited to hear him say the line again. You Have Failed this City.
We don’t see who he’s saying it to, but usually when he says that to someone it’s
a person with deep roots in Starling. Which I’m guessing is not Count Vertigo. It might
be Merlyn he’s talking to, but we don’t know when he’ll make his first season 3
appearance. He’s a cast regular. So I’m hoping he’s in that first episode.
And then there’s the icing on the cake. The Ra’s Al Ghul scene. It’s just a teaser,
the reason we don’t see his face is because they haven’t cast the role yet. Or if they
found someone, they haven’t announced who it is.
I can’t remember when I started predicting Ra’s Al Ghul because we all expected him
to be in the finale last year. Like as a post credits teaser. I’m not surprised that Arrow
is bringing him on, but I am surprised that they full on announced it. Usually things
like this they keep secret until the episodes air.
Other than wanting to kill Merlyn, there are only a few reasons he would bring himself
to Starling. I would say it has something to do with Waller’s actions in the Hong
Kong flashbacks and Count Vertigo in the present.
We have all these new characters, and by the season 3 finale. All of their stories have
to intersect in the present. So I’ll be interested to see how the dots are connected
from Oliver to Amanda Waller to Katana to Ra’s Al Ghul to Merlyn to Ray Palmer.
And that doesn’t even cover the Flash crossover. I’m interested to see how the Flash characters
overlap with the new Arrow characters or if it’s going to be a one of special self contained
plot. It sounds like based on what they’re saying. The two different parts of it, episode
8 of both shows. Will tie some big arcs from each show together. Like the villains on the
flash will overlap with the villains on Arrow and it will take both sets of superheroes
coming together to stop them.
Like a mini Justice League episode. Be sure to let me know what you’re most excited
about after watching this trailer.
Now let’s talk about the Ted Grant Wildcat. JR Ramirez has been cast and it looks like
they’re going full on with the boxing aspects of his character. In the comics, Ted Grant
was a prize fighter that started wearing a costume and kicking bad guys butts. He was
a core member of the Justice Society. And as you can see here, some recommended reading
for his backstory is Sensation Comics #1, JSA Classified 8 and 9 and Batman/Wildcat
1 through 3.
Geoff Johns had a long run on JSA about 10 years ago, so once again you see his fingerprints
on Arrow storylines. I’ll be doing a separate video for him, be sure to subscribe to get
it.
Now let’s announce the winner of my Arrow Comic Con giveaway. Congrats to Karl Kastor.
You win a green arrow funko pop figure. I’ll be messaging you on your channel for details.
So be sure to check your email.
I’ll announce the winner of my Flash giveaway when I do a Flash video on Thursday.
Right now click here to learn all about that first episode of Arrow Season 3 and click
here for my review of the first episode of The Flash. I have a non spoilery part at the
beginning.
Thanks for watching, see you guys tomorrow. High Fives!