Last year saw a lot of changes hit the Arrowverse. Supergirl featured Alex taking over as director of the DEO, and a mysterious new version of Kara showing up in Russia. Over on the Waverider, the Legends had to let the mystical walls of time crumble to defeat Mallus, but that led to more supernatural threats escaping, setting up Matt Ryan’s Constantine to join the series as a regular. The Flash had the gang face their most challenging villain yet in The Thinker. Once they beat him, the finale revealed the presence of Barry and Iris’ daughter from the future, Nora. The biggest change came on Arrow, where Oliver revelaed his identity as the Green Arrow and was arrested for it.
The annual crossover was bigger than ever with evil doppelgangers of fan-favorites, and the heartbreaking demise of Martin Stein. For this year, The CW has already announced that Batwoman will show up in the crossover, possibly setting up her own show. The network also confirmed that Superman and Lois Lane will be a part of the three-night event as well. While Legends of Tomorrow will not participate in this season’s spectacle, the other series will switch schedules around for the story. The Flash airs Sunday, Dec. 9 at 8 pm, followed by Arrow on Monday, Dec. 10 at 8 pm, with Supergirl closing things out Tuesday, Dec. 11 at 8 pm. Before we get to the crossover, we need to discuss some of the burning questions we have for the upcoming seasons of the Arrow, The Flash, Legends of Tomorrow and Supergirl.
25 ARROW: HOW WILL OLIVER GET OUT OF PRISON?
Yes, Oliver outing himself as the Green Arrow and sacrificing his freedom to save everyone else was huge. However, let’s be real, he’s not going to stay in prison for too long -- the show is called Arrow. It can’t really work if the Green Arrow is in prison.
That leaves us wondering how he will get out? Will the government set him free to be a special operative again? Or maybe Lyla will draft him into the Suicide Squad? Producers are limiting spoilers for season seven, but we know he’ll be out by November sweeps.
24 SUPERGIRL: HOW WILL LOIS AND CLARK FIT IN?
Since Superman first appeared on Supergirl, we’ve been wondering when he would meet the rest of her hero friends. Turns out that might finally happen during the next crossover. The CW recently announced that Clark Kent/Superman and Lois Lane will show up as part of the three-show crossover.
We can’t wait to see if he meets Oliver, Barry and Cisco. Plus, Diggle is already freaked out by metahumans and aliens and meeting Superman might be what breaks him. Also who will Lois be in this world? The possibilities are endless.
23 LEGENDS: WILL CONSTANTINE BE A FULL TIME PART OF THE TEAM?
We've loved Matt Ryan's Constantine since we first met him, as his irreverent brand of hero work blends perfectly with the madness that is the Legends. Now that Ryan is a series regular, will we get more hilarious interactions between him and the Waverider crew?
Will John have his own bunk on the ship and spot on the chore wheel? Can he get over a lifetime of lone wolf syndrome and work with the team? And perhaps most importantly, why is Gary dressed like him? Constantine will be an entertaining wild card, even by Legends of Tomorrow standards.
22 THE FLASH: HOW WILL CAITLIN RECONNECT WITH KILLER FROST?
Just as they were learning to coexist, Caitlin and Killer Frost were separated. For awhile Caitlin assumed her alter ego was lost forever, but she soon discovered there was a small dose of meta genes still inside her.
During a vibe with Cisco, Caitlin figured out that Killer Frost has actually been a part of her her entire life. Now she will be on a quest to bring back her other half. Since we know it will involve one or the other, will it take emotional or physical trauma to get her back?
21 SUPERGIRL: HOW WILL THE RED DAUGHTER BE SET UP?
One of the most fascinating Superman stories is Red Son. It sees a world where Superman's ship crashed in the Soviet Union, not Smallville. In the season three finale, Supergirl set up its version of that with a Kara clone emerging in Russia.
Previous attempts tell us that it doesn't always work out when they adapt these stories to TV, but we saw in "Crisis on Earth-X" that Melissa Benoist can play any Supergirl she’s asked to, so we're excited to see what she does with this.
20 LEGENDS: WHAT WILL AVA AND SARA'S RELATIONSHIP BE LIKE?
Unlucky in love Sara Lance seems to have finally met her match in Time Bureau Director Ava Sharp. The two understand each other’s weird lives, friends and difficult histories. Season three saw Ava discover her secret origin as a clone from 2213.
Ava is still trying to figure out her place in the world as a clone, but she and Sara are firmly committed to staying together. Will they remain in their bubble once Ava really starts to examine what it means to be a clone. Just how difficult of a transition will it be for her?
19 THE FLASH: WILL CECILE HAVE POWERS OR WILL THE BABY?
The Flash revealed one of its biggest surprises when a pregnant Cecile developed mind reading abilities. This power became very convenient and helped them solve a lot of last minute problems. However, now that she’s had the baby, which one of them actually has powers?
Just for comedy sake, we hope it’s the baby, as that will create hilarious issues for her parents. Also, having a member of the inner circle read minds is just too easy sometimes. They can now explore Cecile losing these powers that she became attached to. There are several directions they can take this whole situation in.
18 ARROW: WHAT ROLE WILL BLACK SIREN PLAY?
Bringing back Katie Cassidy as Laurel’s evil doppelganger Black Siren was a gamble that paid off for Arrow. We never really knew which side she was on, even when she was fighting alongside the team. She did develop a real connection with Quentin, but now that he’s gone, will she regress back to her bad girl ways?
Plus, knowing that Diaz is coming back, will she try to take him down on her own or work with the team? Quentin and Oliver were the closest thing she had to allies, so what is her place in Star City now?
17 THE FLASH: WILL RUSSELL TOVEY RETURN AS THE RAY?
Last year’s Crisis on Earth-X crossover introduced Raymond Terrill/The Ray into the Arrowverse. Ray is a hero from Earth-1 who takes his doppelganger’s place on Earth-X. Ray fit in perfectly with our weird band of heroes, so we’re wondering if he will come back and visit again.
Based on the prequel web series, we assume there’s some aspects of his Earth-1 life that he needs to return and resolve. Russell Tovey is great at blending comedy and fantasy and he's a fantastic addition to the universe, so we imagine producers won’t waste him on one crossover.
16 SUPERGIRL: WHAT WILL J’ONN’S ROLE BE AS A CIVILIAN?
Following the loss of his father, J’onn decided to leave the DEO and spend more time out in the real world. We wonder if J’onn will truly be able to transition back into regular life after devoting so much of his time to work.
Although, with Agent Liberty and his anti-alien propaganda becoming a major story this season, we don’t think J’onn will be able to stay out of the fray very long. Due to his own tragic history, Martian Manhunter will never be able to not stand up for someone being oppressed.
15 ARROW: WILL THE TEAM BE ABLE TO RECOVER?
Though everyone seemed to reconcile and come together to save the city from Diaz, there’s no way the scars from last season’s huge civil war aren’t still affecting Team Arrow. Original and new team members said and did things that can never be taken back.
They may feel like all is forgiven and the family is OK, but you just know Diaz is already planning on how he can use their buried feelings to his advantage. We’ve all had that moment with a friend where a big fight happens and despite the apologies, tension lingers for a long time.
14 LEGENDS: HOW WILL DAMIEN DARHK SHOW UP AGAIN?
The Legends of Tomorrow version of Damien Darhk has been a revelation. Neal McDonough gets to play every color in the rainbow, but particularly excels when playing up the comedy of the show, and his scenes with Brandon Routh’s Ray Palmer are always hilarious.
Last time we saw him, he sacrificed himself to save his daughter Nora from Mallus. Since time travel is a major element of the series and Courtney Ford’s Nora will be a series regular, we know Damien will return -- we just need to know when and how.
13 SUPERGIRL: WHO WILL BATTLE AGAINST AGENT LIBERTY?
Supergirl is the one show in the franchise that has never shied away from making things political. We’ve previously seen this with how they’ve used anti-alien sentiment to address immigration in the real world.
Producers are taking things even further this season with the addition of Agent Liberty, the leader of a group who takes a hard anti-alien stance. Sam Witwer (Smallville, Being Human) has been cast as the former government agent. As he becomes more popular, we’re left to wonder who will work with the DEO and Supergirl to protect aliens from this new threat.
12 LEGENDS: IS RIP REALLY GONE?
Rip Hunter started out as the leader of the Legends and captain of the Waverider, until some bad decisions and Legion of Doom brainwashing led to him leaving the team. His establishing the Time Bureau further separated him from the Legends and they never really recovered.
We got a glimpse of the original Rip when he didn’t hesitate to sacrifice himself to save everyone from Mallus. He used an exploding time core to give the Waverider time to escape, meaning there’s a chance Rip has been merely been time displaced and could show up again.
11 ARROW: HOW WILL THEY WORK IN AN ANTI-VIGILANTE CITY?
With Diaz out of power and the anti-vigilante act passed, police are once again the law and order in Star City. Of course, we all know there’s still going to be a need for the team, but does the rest of the city know that?
Basically, we’ll get a return to season one where Oliver was on the run from the police as he checked names off his list. Also, are we supposed to believe that no one can figure out Oliver’s closest friends and family aren’t the rest of Team Arrow?
10 SUPERGIRL: HOW WILL BRAINY ADJUST TO THE 21ST CENTURY?
Among Supergirl’s major cast changes was the exit of original cast member Jeremy Jordan. Winn left his friends to head into the future for a new adventure with Mon-El. Brainiac 5, who can’t return to the future due to a deadly virus attacking AIs, will now take Winn’s place with the DEO.
As an artificial intelligence, Brainy has problems connecting with humans socially. He can’t understand the little emotional cues that people use in everyday life, so it will be interesting and hilarious to watch him try to all of a sudden live in the 21st century.
9 LEGENDS: WHO IS CHARLIE AND HOW WILL SHE DISRUPT THE TEAM?
With Amaya back in Zambesi with her family, we thought that meant Maisie Richardson-Sellers was leaving Legends of Tomorrow. However, the actress will remain on the show as Charlie, a mysterious trickster who escaped when the team was fighting Mallus.
We don’t know much about the character, but with the team adjusting to Amaya no longer being on the ship, having this new entity take on her appearance won’t be easy for anyone. Poor Nate is still nursing his broken heart, so seeing this mischievous version of his ex hanging around is bound to mess with his head.
8 SUPERGIRL: HOW WILL ALEX DO IN CHARGE OF THE DEO?
When J’onn decided to leave the DEO, he knew there was only one person he trusted to take over, and that was Alex. She has always been a field agent, so how will she deal with staying behind and letting others go out into danger?
We know Alex will still get out there and mix it up, but not as much as she previously did. There’s also all the bureaucratic stuff that comes with being the boss. The White House will be more involved this season, so that brings in a whole new skill set Alex will have to master.
7 THE FLASH: WHAT NEW WELLS WILL WE MEET THIS YEAR?
One of the signature elements of The Flash has been the revolving door of Wells that show up every year. Tom Cavanagh brings something crazy and unique to each Wells, so it never gets old watching what the producers will make him do, and the McConaughey-esque Wells was especially hilarious.
We think Earth-2’s Harry will return, but other than that, we have no idea what to expect. It’s one of the rare surprises that we look forward to every year. We have heard talk of a "Sherloque Wells" for season five, which makes us wonder what kind of Sherlock we’ll see.
6 ARROW: WHAT WILL THE LONGBOW HUNTERS DO NEXT?
Oliver knew Ricardo Diaz wasn’t done when he survived his fall into the river during their big fight. Producers have since revealed that Diaz will return with The Longbow Hunters to ruin Oliver and Team Arrow’s lives.
The group features Holly Elissa as Red Dart, Michael Jonsson as Kodiak and Miranda Edwards as Silencer. The team has confronted various difficult threats, but how do you prepare when you don’t even know someone is after you? Will Diaz take a different approach this time and just go right for everyone or will he continue to play mind games?