I had no idea there was a Vixen cartoon
There was a thread about it.
Six mini-episodes amounting to about a half-hour story. Links to all the eps are in the above thread. The story guest stars Ollie and Barry with cameos from Cisco and Felicity.
Spoilers Arrow - Season 4
- Thread starter Commander Richard
- Start date
There was a thread about it.
Six mini-episodes amounting to about a half-hour story. Links to all the eps are in the above thread. The story guest stars Ollie and Barry with cameos from Cisco and Felicity.
^Well, strictly a voice cameo from Felicity. We never get to see a Phil Bourassa-designed animated version of Felicity the way we do for the Arrow, Barry/Flash, and Cisco. (I don't think we ever see Oliver out of costume either.)
I am curious if she will cut her hair to play Vixen? Short hair has usually been the character's signature look in the comics and when animated. Not an issue when the actress was just providing a voice. Not that it really matters to me. Just that it will be interesting to see how much visual continuity they keep with the web series.
I'm hoping for her original Wolverine with beads look.
Well, the animated version didn't quite keep continuity with the live-action shows. Their version of STAR Labs looked nothing like the set on TV. (And I'm still trying to wrap my head around the idea of Cisco wearing a plain black t-shirt with no funny geeky image or text of any kind.)
Anyway, long-haired women can play short-haired characters using wigs. Jennifer Lien did it as Kes on Voyager for two seasons before she got tired of the wig and Kes's hair suddenly got long, curly, and redder between one episode and the next. And Jolene Blalock on Enterprise hid her long blonde hair under T'Pol's short black wig.
I'm hoping for her original Wolverine with beads look.
That wasn't even her original look. When she was introduced in the '70s, she had long hair and a mask:
http://ww2.kqed.org/pop/2014/06/05/wanted-movie-superheroes-who-arent-straight-white-men/
(Scroll down a bit to find the image of her. First good hit I found with an image search.)
ETA: A neuron fired off reminding me of an odd bit of trivia...technically that was her 70s introduction, but it was only an ad, for a feature that never happened--part of the infamous "DC Explosion" that has since become known as the "DC Implosion". She didn't make her debut in a story until a 1981 guest appearance in Action Comics, but she was wearing that outfit.
I'm a proud survivor of the DC Implosion. 
Here's the article from Deadline:
‘Arrow’ Casts Vixen: Megalyn Echikunwoke To Play DC Comics Character
‘Arrow’ Casts Vixen: Megalyn Echikunwoke To Play DC Comics Character
I hope they count the web series as canon. It shouldn't really take more than a than a hand-wave of dialogue.
They counted Constantine as canon, and they didn't even make it!
And the web series's writers include Arrow staffers Wendy Mericle, Keto Shimizu, and Brian Ford Sullivan. So I expect they'll keep the continuity reasonably consistent.
Yeah, it seems the whole point of the web series was to introduce the character without having to explain her existence when she inevitably shows up.
I don't recall exactly, but did they bother to explain Constantine at all when he showed up, or did they just assume most people had already seen his show?
I'd be curious to hear from anyone that watches 'Arrow' but never bothered with 'Constantine' prior to the crossover and just how well/poorly he was explained for those not already in the know.
I don't recall exactly, but did they bother to explain Constantine at all when he showed up, or did they just assume most people had already seen his show?
I'd be curious to hear from anyone that watches 'Arrow' but never bothered with 'Constantine' prior to the crossover and just how well/poorly he was explained for those not already in the know.
The island flashbacks established he's the "guy for mystical stuff". Don't think much more was needed.
Maybe The CW will air the webseries some time before February, either in the 5-minute episodes in front of one of the other DC shows, or edited into a half-hour special.
The other possibility is that they will shoot some parts of the webseries in live action to insert into the episode (flashback, maybe, though that may get confusing).
The web series isn't necessary to explain the character any more than watching Constantine was for understanding his role on Arrow.
Arrow:"This is my superhero friend."
Vixen:"Hi, I'm Vixen, I have a magical necklace that lets me harness the powers of the animal kingdom"
It's not exactly rocket science...
Arrow:"This is my superhero friend."
Vixen:"Hi, I'm Vixen, I have a magical necklace that lets me harness the powers of the animal kingdom"
It's not exactly rocket science...
How wild would it be if they just straight-up used clips from the cartoon as flashbacks?
Anyway, there's precedent. In the Flash episode about the mass prisoner transport/escape, they included the Deathbolt character who had previously only been seen on an Arrow episode, and didn't give any real explanation for him, beyond maybe a bit in the "Previously" opening. So for viewers who only watched The Flash and not both shows, there would've been this new character suddenly showing up without getting a full explanation.
And that's fine. We've maybe gotten a little obsessed with knowing the background for everything. Sometimes it's okay for the characters in a show to already be familiar with something that's new to the audience. Heck, that's Supergirl's whole schtick. It's basically a sequel/spinoff to a Superman show that never was. The characters are constantly encountering villains they've already heard of, talking about their connections to people from Metropolis, being affected by events from their past that we haven't seen, etc.
This used to be pretty normal for TV, in fact. In shows from the '60s or '70s or '80s, you'd constantly have the main characters getting visited by old friends or colleagues or love interests that they knew well but the audience had never seen before. The backstory was implied rather than explained, and the audience accepted it and just got on with experiencing the story. Nobody demanded a flashback to explain how Captain Kirk knew Ruth at the Academy or how Steve Austin made friends with a Soviet cosmonaut; they just showed up and the backstory was barely alluded to and that was it.
So there's no reason viewers today should need their hands held any more than viewers from a generation or two ago. It shouldn't be hard to introduce Vixen in a way that works without needing to have seen the web series.
I could see them doing something like...
Felicity: Isn't she the meta you and Barry investigated last year? The one with the mystical totem that gives her animal powers?
Diggle: Wait, when was this?
Ollie: It's a long story.
Felicity: Isn't she the meta you and Barry investigated last year? The one with the mystical totem that gives her animal powers?
Diggle: Wait, when was this?
Ollie: It's a long story.
^Yup. It's as simple as that.
Yeah, that's pretty much what I'd expect. There's really no need to go into any further detail. Hell, I'd honestly be surprise if they even say that much.
Similar threads
