When Arrow and The Flash return to The CW in October, the eponymous heroes will be dealing with an assortment of new evildoers. In Starling City, Oliver Queen will be facing off against Damien Darhk and his organization H.I.V.E., and Batman adversary Anarky will be recurring as well. Meanwhile, over in Central City, Barry Allen will deal with the new main antagonist Zoom, who is said to be faster than both Flash and Reverse-Flash. Atom Smasher will also be giving the Scarlet Speedster trouble in the Season 2 premiere, and it’s been mentioned that Mirror Master and Doctor Alchemy will eventually appear.
Needless to say, the above characters sound like they would be plenty for DC’s TV heroes to deal with, but since these seasons are 23 episodes, there will undoubtedly be other villains gracing the small screen in the following months. Since DC Comics has an expansive library of supervillains, we’ve gone ahead and picked five great bad guys that Arrow and The Flash need to use for their upcoming seasons, both from their main rogues galleries and some that are primarily known for fighting other heroes. Take a look at the talented candidates.
Solomon Grundy - The Flash
The Cyrus Gold we saw serving Brother Blood in Arrow Season 2 may have had enhanced strength after being juiced up with Mirakuru, but he never became the Solomon Grundy fans know from the comics. When Oliver disabled the stolen centrifuge in “Three Ghosts,” the resulting explosion sprayed the chemicals within on Cyrus’ face, seemingly killing him. However, let’s not forget that not long after Gold was neutralized, a certain particle accelerator exploded in Central City. While Solomon Grundy was created from magic in the comics, this universe could have Gold somehow be revived by the particle accelerator wave, either instantaneously or months later, turning him into a zombie metahuman. Rather than go back to Arrow, this Solomon Grundy would battle Barry Allen and maybe other heroes on The Flash. Undead monstrosities would probably be a better fit for that show.
Richard Dragon - Arrow
Unlike the Richard Dragon from the pre-New 52 universe, the Richard Dragon seen in Jeff Lemire’s Green Arrow run in the New 52 used his martial arts skills for evil. After his drug lord father was killed, Ricardo Diaz traveled across the world and trained under the original Richard Dragon to turn his body into a weapon. Not agreeing with Dragon’s lessons of compassion, Diaz subsequently killed his mentor, took his identity and traveled to Seattle to seek revenge against Green Arrow, the man he believed killed his father. He nearly succeeded with the help of some of the Emerald Archer’s foes, but was eventually defeated. Arrow has nearly exhausted its lineup of major Green Arrow villains, but Richard Dragon is one of the few remaining that would pose a unique challenge to Oliver Queen. At the very least, audiences would get to see some great fight choreography.
The Top - The Flash
The Flash introduced many of the Scarlet Speedster’s biggest enemies during the first season, but there are still a few stragglers left over. One of those adversaries is The Top, who in the pre-New 52 universe was a criminal named Roscoe Dillon that was able to spin his body at incredible speeds. The spinning also somehow increased his intelligence, and combined with his trick tops, proved to be one of the Flash’s greatest (and oddest) enemies. While the trick tops might be too gimmicky for The Flash, having Top be a member of The Rogues needs to happen. Oh, and for any of you thinking that a guy spinning around and throwing dangerous tops around sounds absurd, just remember there’s a super-intelligent, telepathic gorilla running around Central City. Nothing is too ridiculous when superpowers meet weird science.
Abra Kadabra - The Flash
Eobard Thawne isn’t the only Flash antagonist that hails from the future. When he was banished from the 64th century, Abra Kadabra began a crime spree in the present day using technology so advanced that it looked like he was magical. Years later, the villain gained true magical powers when he struck a deal with the demon Neron. Unlike Eobard, who accidentally stranded himself, Abra Kadabra could willingly travel to the present day on The Flash in an attempt to seek power and glory. As in the comics, his future technology would make it look like he’s a sorcerer, but perhaps when Arrow starts exploring magic during its Season 4, his abilities could eventually be augmented to include real spells and mysticism.
Sportsmaster - Arrow
There have been several Sportsmasters over the decades, but all of them have the same gimmick: using weaponized sports equipment to commit crimes, whether it’s an exploding baseball, razor-sharp cleats or just beating the hell out of people with a standard hockey stick. Sportsmaster has typically been a minor villain, but the animated series Young Justice proved he can be a fleshed-out character with proper writing. As it would be more appropriate using him as an Arrow villain, it would be strange kismet to see Stephen Amell fighting Sportsmaster on the small screen, considering Amell just finished playing Casey Jones, another guy who fights with sports equipment, in next year’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2.
