ARROW/THE FLASH spinoff series casts Rip Hunter, Hawkgirl

Having starred as a guy who’s daughter was his childhood friend as well as being his other 900-year old friend’s wife from the far off future, Doctor Who alum Arthur Darvill knows all about weird time travel situations. And he’s going to need all that expertise as THR reports that he’s been cast to play the time-traveling comic book anti-hero Rip Hunter in the planned Arrow/The Flash spinoff that will see a new team of DC Comics superheroes joining forces on the small screen.

In the previously revealed character descriptions for the show, Hunter was known as the “Traveller” and described as a “Han Solo-esque rogue who gets by with his charm, this hero hails from the future, and has journeyed back in time on a secret mission. His razor-sharp wit hides the pain of a man who has lived through serious conflict. He also harbors many secrets, always leaving both his teammates and the audience unsure of his true allegiances.”

Hunter has been a mainstay in the DC Comics universe for decades, but has never truly been either a hero or a villain, merely doing whatever is necessary to complete his mission. It will be interesting to see whether the CW keeps this moral ambivalence intact though.

Darvill’s casting is the first we’ve seen to round out the “new” characters to be featured on this upcoming team-up series, but its not the only one that was announced yesterday, as Deadline is reporting that Broadway actress Ciara Renée has been cast to play Hawkgirl. In the comics, Hawkgirl’s modern incarnation is Kendra Saunders, a young lady that along with her beau Hawkman aka Carter Hall is actually the frequently reincarnated personification of an ancient Egyptian prince and princess whose original counterparts came into contact with some alien tech that granted them the ability of flight, superstrength and enhanced senses through a set of wings.

In the original comics, the wings were an alien metal harness worn by Saunders, but in this version they will “grow out of her back, earning her the moniker Hawkgirl”, when “her ancient warrior persona manifests itself” under provocation. While that implies her classic origin, it must be noted that Renée actually bears a much stronger resemblance to the very latest comic book incarnation of the character, Kendra Munoz-Saunders, a soldier from a parallel earth who had wings surgically grafted onto her back as part of a military program to create their own superheroes.

There’s no word on exactly which version of the character will be seen here. It’s also not sure if Hawkman will also be showing up, but both characters have already been seen on screen as members of Smallville‘s version of the Justice League.

Darvill and Renée will be joining the already announced – and much more familiar – Brandon Routh as the Atom aka Ray Palmer, Victor Garber as Dr Martin Stein, one half of the superpowered Firestorm, Wentworth Miller as villainous Captain Cold aka Leonard Snart, Dominic Purcell as his rogue cohort Heat Wave aka Mick Rory and Caity Lotz as… well, we actually have no idea who she will be playing seeing as [SPOILER ALERT] the last season of Arrow saw her coming down with an acute case of death!

Add Rip Hunter and Hawkgirl into that mix and you have one incredibly eclectic bunch of characters that really is unlike any superteam that DC has in the comics or on-screen. If executive producers Greg Berlanti, Andrew Kreisberg, Marc Guggenheim and Sarah Schechter show the same kind of skill in crafting this still unnamed series that they have with Arrow and The Flash, then we may just be in for one hell of a show.

The show has no official release date, but is expected to debut sometime in mid-2016.

Last Updated: April 2, 2015