It seems that the CW’s plan to expand the Arrow universe – which began with The Flash and could lead to a solo series starring Brandon Routh as The Atom – will exceed beyond live-action superhero television. The latest Arrow spinoff will be an animated series premiering exclusively on the CW’s digital network, CW Seed. Coming to us once more from producer Marc Guggenheim, it will center on DC Comics superheroine Vixen.
The CW officially announced the series and released some early promo artwork during its panel at the winter Television Critics Association conference this past weekend.
Vixen seems like a strange, relatively obscure character for Guggenheim and company to turn to, which is probably why it’ll be an animated web series. Still, it’s cool to see that the studio is willing to dig deeply into the DC pantheon for its series, and Vixen in particular should be fun to watch on screen.
For those who don’t know, the titular heroine is the alter ego of Mari Jiwe McCabe, who grew up in a small village in the fictional African nation Zambesi. As an adult she moved to New York City, became a model, and took up a life of crime fighting when she discovered an ancient African totem that granted her the power to mimic the abilities of any animal on Earth.
Vixen will begin as a six-part series later this fall and move the action to Detroit, Michigan. Despite existing in animated form, it will share a cinematic universe with both Arrow and The Flash, and the character could appear in live action if the show is well received. I would also imagine that if successful, Vixen could give way to other DC animated series for the CW as well. After all, it’s a great way to test out a character and gauge audience interest before committing to a live action adaptation.
