The Ultimate Arrowverse Quiz
- by Michael Gordon
- – on
- in Movies and TV
Few could have predicted, when Arrow debuted on the CW Network on October 12th 2012, that within the span of the next four years the show would have spawned its own superhero universe on TV. After all, the creators of the show (Greg Berlanti, Andrew Kreisberg and Marc Guggenheim) were very careful throughout the first season to ground Arrow in reality as much as possible. The character of Oliver Queen/Green Arrow had previously appeared for a few years on the young-Superman show Smallville, but this vision was very different from that one.
From these humble roots, Arrow proved to be a big hit in its first season and it went from strength to strength in a barnstorming season two. It was during this sophomore season that the groundwork began to be laid for expansion; superpowers crept into the 'realistic' world, and a certain awkward forensic scientist named Barry Allen appeared in two episodes.
He would, of course, go on to get his own show. The Flash became an even bigger hit than Arrow, and all of sudden the CW had a universe on their hands. Legends Of Tomorrow then debuted in January 2016, fully embracing the time travel concepts that The Flash had toyed with. And in October 2016, Supergirl was ported over from NBC to become part of the universe, now referred to by fans as the 'Arrowverse'.
It sometimes seems that, for DC Comics fans, the TV shows give them exactly what the movies struggle to provide; strong, interesting characters who take part in fun stories and epic adventures, with a big dose of heart for good measure.
This quiz is for die hard fans of these shows and characters. Let's do it!
In season one, what area of Starling City was Malcolm Merlyn plotting to destroy?
The main villain of Arrow season one was Malcolm Merlyn aka the Dark Archer. A wealthy businessman and friend of the Queen family, he was also the father of Tommy, Oliver's best friend. Played with scenery chewing gusto by British actor John Barrowman, Merlyn was revealed as the mastermind behind 'The Undertaking', a villainous plot to destroy a poor area of Starling City with an earthquake device. Which, to be honest, sounds awfully similar to Ra's Al Ghul's plan for Gotham City in Batman Begins...
Which member of Oliver's family unit does Slade Wilson kill in season two?
The main antagonist of season two was Slade Wilson aka Deathstroke, played by Manu Bennett (Spartacus). One of the most popular villains/anti-heroes in DC Comics history, Slade has appeared in video games, animated shows and movies, on the big screen (briefly), but his current omnipresence began with Arrow. One of the most deadly mercenaries and assassins in the world, Slade was a mentor to Oliver who helped him toughen up and survive the island, Which made it hurt Oliver all the more when Slade reappeared in Starling City and waged a campaign of violence against the city and the Queen family...
Which DC Comics occult detective teamed with Oliver once while on the island?
Every season of Arrow has the modern day storyline that is intercut with a flashback story of Oliver's trials and tribulations during the five years he was stranded on the island. It turns out that Oliver had a hell of a lot of adventures during that period, including one time when he teamed up with DC's premier occult detective, magician and man of loose morals! In the episode, entitled 'Haunted', Oliver places a call to this old friend when he needs help dealing with some scary magical tomfoolery that is happening to Sara Lance.
Felicity Smoak's father is a cyber-criminal. What is his supervillain alias?
One of the most popular characters in the Arrowverse, Felicity Smoak has a been a member of Team Arrow since season one. Initially an IT consultant at Queen Consolidated, she joined Oliver and Diggle on their vigilante quest by providing tech support and her hacking skills. Her romance with Oliver has been through many incarnations in the show (with the fans dubbing them 'Olicity'), and we have also been introduced to her family, including her party girl mother Donna and father Noah. Who happens to be a fugitive super-criminal!
Which deadly assassin does Diggle believe killed his brother Andy?
John Diggle, played by the mega-buff David Ramsey, was not a character from DC Comics history. Rather, he was created specifically for the show, but became so popular that he has since been added to comic book continuity. Initially Oliver's bodyguard, he joins Oliver's mission (but refuses to wear a costume until season four). He has a tragic backstory: he believes his beloved brother Andy, a fellow military man, was murdered by an elite assassin. Of course, as we revealed earlier, this wasn't exactly true; Andy was actually a very-much-alive crime lord and member of H.I.V.E. all along!
In The Flash, who killed Barry Allen's mother?
Barry Allen first appeared in two episodes of Arrow season two, in what was envisioned as a backdoor pilot for The Flash TV show. However, response to Grant Gustin was so positive that they decided to give him a proper pilot for his own show. We found out that, when Barry was a child, he had witnessed the death of his mother in the middle of a lightning cloud inside their home. Barry's father was sent to prison for it, but Barry insisted his father didn't do it. Nora Allen was actually killed by the Reverse-Flash aka...
What was the name of Caitlin's fiancé who died in the particle accelerator explosion?
Caitlin Snow, played by Danielle Panabaker (Mr Brooks), is a bio-engineer who works at S.T.A.R. Labs and becomes a valuable member of Team Flash. She was working at the lab the night the particle accelerator exploded (which gave Barry his speed powers). On that fateful night, her fiancé, the lead structural engineer for the accelerator, died when he sacrificed his life to re-direct the explosion caused by an anomaly in the core chamber. His body was vaporized when the core exploded and he was presumed dead...
What is Caitlin's villainous metahuman alter-ego?
At one point in The Flash, Barry Allen travels back in time to prevent his mother's death, and this creates the 'Flashpoint' timeline. After spending a period here, he realises it's not what was meant to be, so tries his best to restore the timeline to the way it was. However, not everything goes back to normal. Caitlin, whose Earth-2 doppelganger is a villainous metahuman, begins to exhibit similar powers whenever her anger rises. She begins to feel like she will turn evil if she ever uses the powers...
What is the source of The Flash's speed?
In Barry Allen's superheroic origin story, he is struck by lightning at the same time the particle accelerator explodes in Central City, bathing him in radiation. When he awakens from his coma he finds that he now has super speed! Awesome! But that's not all there is to it. Over the course of the series, we find out that when Barry uses his speed, he is actually tapping into an extra-dimensional energy that is the source of ALL speedsters superhuman abilities...
Cisco is in a long-distance relationship with a bounty hunter from a different Earth. Name her.
Cisco Ramon is one of the most popular characters in the Arrowverse, and it's for good reason. Carlos Valdes took what could've been a stock 'science nerd with bad social skills' character and imbued him with such natural charm and likeability that he has become the backbone of the show. The audience always pulled for Cisco to find romance in his life, so when he began flirting with a bounty hunter chick from a different Earth, fans loved it. He is now in an extremely long distance relationship with her and recently met her terrifying father, played by Danny Trejo!
Unlike all the other scientist versions of Harrison Wells, what was H.R. Wells' occupation?
Another one of the most potent weapons on The Flash is actor Tom Cavanagh's portrayal of the many different versions of Harrison Wells. He was previously mostly known for his comedic roles, so seeing him play a distinctly sinister iteration of Wells is interesting. He gives each character a unique voice and their own mannerisms that set them apart, and generally tends to steal most scenes he is in. All the Wells' (recently nicknamed 'The Council Of Wells' by Cisco) are scientists on their Earths. Well, all except one...
In Supergirl, where did Kara's spaceship get stranded for 24 years, delaying her arrival on Earth?
Supergirl is an interesting section of the Arrowverse, in that it didn't initially start as a part of the series of connected shows at all! It was only with season two that the show moved to The CW. The setup of the show involves Kara Zor-El being sent away from the dying planet Krypton to Earth in a small spacecraft at the same time as her cousin Kal-El. However, her craft is knocked off course and she becomes trapped somewhere for 24 years, meaning when she finally lands on Earth her cousin has already grown up and become Superman!
Alex's boss at the DEO, Hank Henshaw, is revealed to be which DC hero in disguise?
Kara and her adopted Earth sister Alex Danvers work for the DEO (Department of Extra-Normal Operations) in National City. It is their job to track down and detain rogue extra-terrestrials, and Kara is helped by the scientists there to learn to control her powers. Their boss at the DEO, former CIA man Hank Henshaw (David Harewood) was presented as a no-nonsense military man, who was very hardline on aliens. That is, until it was revealed that he was actually a very famous DC Comics alien superhero in disguise...
What superheroic identity does James Olsen take on in season two?
One of the most controversial aspects of Supergirl is their depiction of James Olsen. Presented in the show as a good-looking and confident colleague of Kara's at CatCo, he is also physically impressive and dominating. It's all a far cry from the comic book version of Jimmy Olsen, a much smaller, much nerdier photographer who works for the Daily Planet with Clark Kent. In season two, the show's creators departed even further from the source material when James took up a superheroic identity all his own...
What planet is Mon-El from?
In season two, Kara gets a new love interest (much to the dismay of Wyn Schott and James Olsen) in the form of hunky alien Mon-El, played by Chris Wood. Mon-El is from Krypton's main rival planet, and initially the two are hostile towards each other due to their planets' ancient feud (which stemmed from Krypton's disapproval of their slavery policies). Initially Mon-El is self-centred and refuses to learn to use his powers for good, but eventually Kara's charms work on him and he becomes an ally.
Which immortal villain were the Legends Of Tomorrow battling during season one?
With two successful shows under their belts, the Arrowverse's producers expanded even further in 2016 with the addition of DC's Legends Of Tomorrow, a time-travelling extravaganza that united a number of characters already seen on Arrow and The Flash, along with some new ones. The show follows the 'Legends', as they are dubbed, as the ragtag group of disparate elements travels through time in pursuit of an immortal supervillain who will go on to rule the world with an iron fist in the year 2166.
What is the name of Rip Hunter's time-travelling spaceship?
Rip Hunter is a former Time Master from the 22nd Century. The Time Masters are a council of individuals tasked with protecting the timeline, fixing and/or eliminating any anomalies that pop up. Rip rebels against them when his family is killed by the immortal villain, and so he travels back to our time to recruit a group of heroes to help him pursue his arch nemesis. They travel in Rip's timeship, an old craft that is constantly in need of fixing and has a tendency to malfunction from time to time...
Who was revealed to be the true identity of the Time Masters' temporal bounty hunter Chronos?
During much of season one, the Legends were pursued through time by a temporal bounty hunter named Chronos, who had been sent by the Time Masters to bring in the rogue Rip Hunter. Chronos was a scary masked adversary who had a habit of turning up to cause chaos for the Legends at the worst possible times. Eventually it was revealed that Chronos' true identity was someone we already knew, who had been found by the Time Masters and brainwashed into become their bounty hunter...
Who becomes leader of the Legends in season two after Rip disappears?
At the beginning of season two, Rip Hunter went missing somewhere in the timeline. This meant one of the Legends had to step up and become Captain of the ship. But who was it? Was it Kendra Saunders, the barista turned reincarnation of an Ancient Egyptian warrior priestess? Was it Sara Lance, the former member of the League Of Assassins and main squeeze of Nyssa Al Ghul? Was it Ray Palmer, the genius inventor and businessman who could shrink to a sub-atomic level? Or was it Mick Rory, the criminal-turned-hero who liked setting things on fire and drinking beer?
What ancient artifact are the Legion Of Doom seeking in season two?
In a delightful nod to fans of the beloved 1980's Superfriends cartoon, the time-travelling villainous syndicate in season two was dubbed the Legion Of Doom. Consisting of Reverse-Flash (Eobard Thawne), Malcolm Merlyn, Damian Dahrk and a plucked-from-the-timeline-before-he-grew-a-conscience-and-became-a-hero Leonard Snart, the Legion caused havoc while on their search for an ancient biblical artifact. They knew the artifact had the power to rewrite reality itself, and wanted to use it to change all their destinies. In fact, at one point they did succeed, creating an alternate reality in which they ruled!
The Legends encounter which 1940's superhero team in season two?
The Legends Of Tomorrow were never a team in the source material of DC Comics lore; rather they were a disparate group of characters from the CW shows thrown together in a new show that, against all the odds, worked beautifully. However, during season two, they DID encounter a very famous DC superhero group during a mission in 1942 in which they were impersonating OSS (Office Of Strategic Services) Agents. This team included heroes such as Hourman, Stargirl, Dr Mid-Nite and Vixen, who would go on to join the Legends.
Arrow, The Flash and Legends Of Tomorrow take place on Earth-1. But which Earth is Supergirl from?
We mentioned before how Supergirl initially aired on NBC for its first season, before changing networks to the CW and being absorbed into the Arrowverse. The first hint that Kara and company could eventually become part of the universe we loved so much was the Supergirl season one episode 'World's Finest', in which The Flash and Cisco use one of his breaches to travel to an alternate Earth and end up in National City! Flash then helps Supergirl battle Livewire and Silver Banshee. But what Earth is Supergirl actually from?
What was responsible for healing Thea Queen and resurrecting Sara Lance?
In what is now an openly known and joked about foible of comic book history, most of the heroes and villains who have been in continuous publication for decades have died and been reborn more times than anyone can count! It's a way to generate sales and to freshen things up for a period. The Arrowverse is no different, and we've seen several characters bite the dust, only to come back. Sara Lance is one of those characters. She was resurrected by the same means that Thea Queen was healed whenever she was stabbed by Ra's Al Ghul...
Which alien race did the heroes fight in the 'Invasion' 4-part crossover?
Crossovers have always been an important part of comic book shared universes over the years. For 50+ years, fans of DC and Marvel have enjoyed seeing the various characters they follow pop up in each other's comics. The world at large eventually caught up to the joys of this kind of storytelling with the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and the Arrowverse on TV has followed suit. The first crossover between all four shows came in 2016, and showed startling ambition in terms of the size of the cast and expansiveness of the story. Our heroes went up against an alien invasion from some particularly ugly lookin' space beasties...
Which Legend is tragically killed during the 'Crisis On Earth-X' crossover?
The second major crossover between all four shows was even more of an event than 'Invasion!' and showcased an even more stunning level of ambition from the filmmakers. Entitled 'Crisis On Earth-X (a lovely reference to DC Comics history, as there have been quite a few massive crossovers with 'Crisis' in the title over the years), we saw our heroes (and we mean EVERYONE) battling Nazi versions of themselves from the evil Earth-X. Sadly, one of the Legends died in the midst of battle, and had a particularly heartbreaking final speech before he passed on...