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The prodigal sons and daughters return to "defy" your expectations once more.

According to a report from TVline, Arrow’s Echo Kellum (You’re the Worst) has been promoted to a series regular as of season five. The actor plays Curtis Holt on the show, a character that fans might identify as Mr. Terrific. Holt first appeared on the second episode of this most recent season as a Palmer Technologies […]

Unlike the eponymous NBC TV show, Marvel’s new Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. comic isn’t bound by budgets, cameos or contracts.  Series writer and Arrow executive producer Marc Guggenheim is using that freedom to tell an expansive, grandiose story that seeks to transform the way you experience the Marvel Universe. Following a recent editorial, Comics Beat reporter […]

On Arrow, women are constantly treated as tools rather than characters, used to further the legend of Oliver Queen.

We're going to get hurt really, really badly on January 19th.

Today, comicbook.com broke the news that WWE veteran Adam Copeland has been cast as Al Rothstein, aka Atom-Smasher in CW’s TV adaptation of The Flash.  The second season, which premieres this fall, will feature the super-strong size-changing character as a villain, even though he has primarily been portrayed as a hero in the comics.

Today, Warner Bros and The CW confirmed some news about the upcoming second season of The Flash.  First off, they’ve announced that Zoom will be the premiere villain of the arc.

Shantel VanSanten has been cast as Patty Spivot, a “police officer and science enthusiast who catches the eye of Barry Allen.”

Finally, Teddy Sears has been cast as Jay Garrick, the first hero to call himself The Flash.  His official character description says he’s “a mysterious figure who arrives in Central City to warn Barry Allen and his team at S.T.A.R. Labs of an impending danger that he alone cannot hope to stop.”

Tonight, the CW debuted a new look for Stephen Amell’s Arrow.  The Green avatar of justice will be rocking some sweet new gauntlets and showing off those biceps for season four.

No word on whether or not his wardrobe is a junkie.  Season four premieres on October 7th.

Today, we got our first look at the trailer for Vixen, an animated series that will share a chronology and characters with the live action The Flash and Arrow series currently airing on the CW.  Megalyn Echikunwoke will voice the titular character while The Flash’s and Green Arrow’s actors crossover from the realm of physical acting to give voice to their animated counterparts.

For more info on the series, check out CBR’s first look.

Riverdale TV Series on CW (Illustration by Veronica Fish)

Archie Comics has exploded onto the mainstage of the comics world in the last few years, just as many thought they were a relic of the golden age. Series like Life With Archie and the enormously popular Afterlife with Archie, along with the introduction of the openly gay character Kevin Keller a few years prior, introduced these characters to a new generation in a surprisingly mature and modern way. At Comic Con today in a packed room full of fans, we got a glimpse at what is coming up for the progressive company and it’s growing band of creators.

Perhaps the biggest news to come out of the panel is the announcement that the long talked about Riverdale TV series will not be on Fox, but will premiere on CW. This came out of working through Greg Berlanti, who will be producing the show. This begs the question about the tone of the show, which previously sounded a bit like Twin Peaks in its adult and surreal nature, but now is being compared more to Glee. “It has a lot of music in it,” said Robert Aguirre-Sacasa, Archie’s Chief Creative Officer. They also mentioned that Josie and the Pussycats will play a big role, as well as Kevin Keller. Veronica Fish did some excellent promo art for the show, and will hopefully be working on a high profile comic soon, the publishers teased.

Archie #1 by Mark Waid and Fiona Staples

Four of the main creators involved in the New Riverdale group of books were onstage in Mark Waid (Archie), Chip Zdarsky (Jughead), Dan Parent (Kevin Keller) and Adam Hughes (Betty and Veronica). Waid said of the whole crew, “No one’s setting an iron-clad continuity that we have to fall into, we’re just enjoying what we’re all doing,” and that they are all sort of riffing on each other to create this new Archie universe. The first issue has been getting good reviews all around, and Waid teased that although Veronica shows up a little in issue two, but will be “like a wrecking ball” in issue three. He also noted that he felt like it was important to put Betty in that awkward phase that many girls go through when they transition from being “one of the boys” to being looked at differently by the men in her life–Fiona Staples, who is drawing the book, provided a lot of input on that part of the story.

Jughead #1 by Chip Zdarsky and Erica Henderson

Zdarsky talked about how he got involved with the forthcoming Jughead book that he is writing, saying he asked to do a variant for Archie #1 and then really wanted to get involved with New Riverdale: “Do you need someone to staple the comics?” he jokingly asked. Apparently, he had done an art project in school that involved building a 3D Archie panel around his head, with himself playing the role of Jughead, so his fandom of the character is nothing new. Zdarsky’s take on the iconic burger-eater is that “he’s a bit like me: he’s smarter than everyone in the room, but doesn’t feel like he has to show it.” Jon Goldwater, CEO and Publisher of Archie Comics, said that the book, which comes out on October 8th, is “really, really funny.” The book sounds like it will be the most irreverent of the group, with Jughead using his daydreaming imagination to figure things out, which involves the Superteens and more fantastical elements.

Hughes’ take on Betty and Veronica is the least developed so far, as he has only just begun to work on it. “Betty and Veronica are two characters I never thought I’d be allowed to work on,” Hughes said. The book will aim to be “a laugh riot,” and Hughes says he’s thrilled to be able to write and draw these iconic characters. Dan Parent showed some early pages from the new Life with Kevin Keller series as well, revealing that he will be living on his own and a little older now, which Parent notes means “the sky’s the limit” for the character.

Vampironica Cover by Francesco Francavilla

Aguirre-Sacasa loosely announced a new title in the horror line that Francesco Francavilla will in some way be a part of that “may or may not” be called Vampironica. which included teasing a beautiful cover by Francavilla featuring a Vampirella-looking Veronica in a graveyard within a silhouette of Jughead. As if that wasn’t exciting enough for Archie Horror fans, the audience was treated to a preview of Afterlife with Archie #9, which focuses on Reggie and the guilt he feels for his part in causing the zombie apocalypse. For at least one page of the issue, Francavilla and Aguirre-Sacasa take a Goofus and Galant approach in an Archie and Reggie sequence. There were strong hints that something bad will happen to Reggie when the issue releases in a month or so.

Coming up for the Afterlife with Archie series in #10-12 involve the whole Riverdale gang stumbling onto a farm that seems untouched by the apocalypse. Unfortunately, it may not be the paradise it seems as the gang starts to notice that no one here is over 18–and Betty’s 18th birthday is coming up soon. Said by Aguirre-Sacasa of working with Francavilla: “It’s an auteur book, and the auteur is Francesco.”

Archie vs. Sharknado One-Shot Variant Cover by Francesco Francavilla

In other news for the horror line, Aguirre-Sacasa promises that issue #4 of Chilling Adventures of Sabrina is “the creepiest book we’ve ever done.” That issue involves the Riverdale gang arriving in Greendale to assist in the search for Sabrina’s missing boyfriend, Harvey. This first arc ends with issue five, while six will be a one-shot story that explores Salem the cat’s medieval origins, and seven starting the Witch War arc in which the witches of Greendale and Riverdale square off.

In the longstanding tradition of ridiculous crossovers, the publishers talked a bit about the newest to join the ranks in Archie vs. Sharknado, which comes out in time for Sharknado 3: Oh Hell No. Anthony C. Ferrante, director of all three Sharknado movies, wrote the one-shot comic, and talked about how fun it was to put together. “I fell in love with some of the characters, so I couldn’t kill them off!” he noted.

It was a slow news weekend on the entertainment front these past few days, but here are the the headlines that grabbed my attention in the past 48 hours:

– Both of the casts and creative teams for The Flash and Arrow were on hand at PaleyFest over the weekend. Nothing really earth shattering was announced, but there were a few teases that might excite fans, particularly for The Flash. According to TVLine, Greg Berlanti has hopes that they’ll tackle Wally West or Bart Allen, though no sooner than Season 2. They also hinted that the series will be adapting a major Flash comics storyline soon. Flashpoint, Crisis on Infinite Earths, or a meld of the two seem the obvious answers there, but who knows?

– James O’Barr‘s The Crow is getting another shot at the big screen, directed by Corin Hardy, and according to O’Barr, the film has already found its lead (per Dread Central):

O’Barr said that “Jack Huston has definitely been cast,” that he was “really happy with that choice,” and that the film “will shoot in a couple of months.” He also said the film will essentially be a straight adaptation of his original graphic novel, which differs quite a bit from the (still awesome) 1994 Brandon Lee vehicle.

Jack Huston is a fan favorite from Boardwalk Empire, so this makes for a fairly compelling choice. Whether or not the world needs another Crow film…I’ll leave that up to your discretion.

- The folks over at Latino Review have really been nailing the Suicide Squad news over the past week, dropping some choice tidbits about Jared Leto‘s Joker before the weekend hit. Now they have a few details regarding Batman’s appearance in the David Ayer directed ensemble picture:

According to sources, in the film Batman is some sort of big boogeyman that the government REALLY hates. Get this, prior to the events in #BatmanvSuperman, THE JOKER is the only one to really ever meet him or know him and that’s why he’s so important to Amanda Waller. They have footage of Batman in action which they watch. There is a bit of dialogue where they say Batman is the key to tracking down all “the supers.” Very cool stuff.

- I never find myself terribly excited about Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. for a number of reasons that have been covered by enough people, but it was pointed out to me this morning by Hannah that in the most recently released episode synopsis, Lucy Lawless‘ Isabelle Hartley is coming back:

“One Door Closes” – War comes to Coulson’s doorstep in a way he never anticipated as shocking revelations are brought to light, and Skye struggles to control her new abilities but will soon make a decision that irrevocably changes her life, on “Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.,” Tuesday, March 31 (9:00-10:00 PM, ET) on the ABC Television Network.

“Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” stars Clark Gregg as Director Phil Coulson, Ming-Na Wen as Agent Melinda May, Brett Dalton as Grant Ward, Chloe Bennet as Agent Skye, Iain De Caestecker as Agent Leo Fitz, Elizabeth Henstridge as Agent Jemma Simmons, Nick Blood as Lance Hunter and Adrianne Palicki as Bobbi Morse.

Guest starring are Henry Simmons as Alphonso “Mack” Mackenzie, Lucy Lawless as Isabelle Hartley, Edward James Olmos as Robert Gonzales, Jamie Harris as Gordon, Christine Adams as Agent Weaver, Kirk Acevedo as Agent Calderon, Cornelius Smith, Jr. as Case, Sai Rao as Susanna, Mackenzie Astin as Tim Maguire and Rick Otto as lead Hydra agent.

So, in other words, the pattern of no one ever actually staying dead in the Marvel Cinematic Universe continues, then again, I guess that’s pretty true to the comics.