Arrow: Easter Eggs and DC Comics References in "Legends of Yesterday"

"CELESTIAL ROCKS"

Those "Sky rocks?" Well, that's a nod to the comics.

You see toward the end of the episode that Vandal gets bathed in radiation from a meteor shower...and that's not new.

In the comics, even though his origin took place around 46,000 years before it does on TV, Vandal also gained some powers and enhanced intellect from the meteor's radiation.

KENDRA'S VISIONS

Kendra being conflicted over the acceptance of her destiny and her resistance to having her whole life -- and her love life -- predestined is a hallmark of recent takes on the character.

She nailed it later in the episode -- her relationship with Hawkman is "complicated," and she doesn't even always like it -- or him -- but it's driving her.

HATH-SET

In the comics, Vandal Savage and Hath-Set are two different people.

But both pretty bad. As one of our readers notes:

[Quote]Reply-147507[/Quote]

rock-n-roll-loser said ... (original post)

You also missed a HUGE one here. Vandal Savage's name in the past was "Hath-Set, a reoccurring villain for Hawkman and Hawkgirl.

More specifically, Hath-Set was one of the earliest Hawkman villains and one of the first recurring villains to have ties to ancient Egypt.

AGE OF ULTRON

"Superheroes in a farm house?" scoffs Thea tonight, noting that she feels like she's "seen that in a movie."

...Yeah.

Nice wink-and-a-nod to Avengers: Age of Ultron there.

BARRY BEING LATE

While Vandal Savage last week posited that this probably never happens to him, we see Barry Allen being the last one to show up again...this time, with a pretty good excuse, but really that's a long-standing trope of his character.

Despite being the fastest man alive, he's got a lot on his plate, and often he makes last-minute appearances in his civilian life.

GEEK SQUAD

Yep. Oliver named Cisco and Felicity after Best Buy's tech support team.

Which is fine...I mean, it isn't like Felicity didn't have basically EXACTLY that job for a while at the start of Season 3.

FLEET FEET

I don't know about you guys, but even though I know that's technically a term that's been in use for ages, when I hear it I think about the store where my wife goes to buy her running shoes.

So, yeah. Name drop there.

Usually I wouldn't necessarily note it here, but there are multiple locations around the country, so it's equally possible that they heard it from the company first as that they heard it as just a thing in conversation.

TIME TRAVEL FLYBY

Barry has obviously time-traveled before...and this time, just as last time, we see him pass himself by as he does, giving himself a cue of what's to come.

It was dramatically satisfying, too; it took some pressure off the "WHAT THE HELL?" moment when all of Team Arrow got eradicated by a wave of energy, becuase you could pretty much figure out what was next.

JURGENS INDUSTRIAL

That would be a reference to longtime Green Arrow artist Dan Jurgens, who not only drew the title in the '80s but came back to it for the start of the New 52 reboot.

This isn't his first name-drop on Arrow, either, so apparently somebody in the writers' room likes him.

Jurgens wrote and drew the 1994 crossover series Zero Hour, in which dozens of characters died when they encountered waves of entropy...which kind of looked like the wave that killed Team Arrow later in this episode.

FIGHT CLUB

"The first rule of time travel is you don't talk about time travel," says Cisco.

I feel like I've heard that somewhere before...

...Oh, I remember. I can't talk about it.

ST. ROCH UNIVERSITY

St. Roch University is a familiar locale to DC Universe fans; St. Roch is where Hawkman and Hawkgirl were headquartered for a while.

We also see a message from Dr. Aldis Boardman here, broadcast from 1976 via Betamax...so it can't be a coincidence that in the trailer for DC's Legends of Tomorrow, we see the Legends head to St. Roch in 1976, can it?

SAMANTHA CLAYTON

Samantha Clayton is not the mother of Oliver's kids -- or indeed even a character -- in the comic book source material.

Created for the TV series, Clayton is played by Anna Hopkins, the character first appeared in Arrow's second season, and then had a cameo in last year's The Flash/Arrow crossover. It's finally time for Oliver to realize that he's got a kid...but what happens next?

HUMAN TOUCH

"U Can't Touch This" is a hit single written, produced and performed by MC Hammer from his 1990 album, Please Hammer, Don't Hurt 'Em.

Invisible Touch is the thirteenth studio album from the English rock band Genesis, released in 1986.

Together, they make up tonight's "touch"-themed medley!

RUN, BARRY, RUN

The Arrow writers can't let the writers for The Flash have all the fun: they have to get in on the "Run, Barry, run!" wagon.

There are enough instances of this phrase in The Flash to make for an interesting and potentially dangerous installment in a drinking game.

ODDS AND ENDS

"Anti-Gandalf magic stuff gloves." Nice Lord of the Rings reference there, Cisco!

Also, when I hear "That's pretty heavy" in a time-travel story, I think Back to the Future.

Sankara Stones are not only a nice nod to Indiana Jones but, as we noted last night, the SECOND major Indy nod in this crossover. Probably no coincidence that so many people praised the Indiana Jones-like elements in Geoff Johns's Hawkman run, huh?

The Keystone City Museum is a good place to keep that meteor. At least that keeps it out of "town" and make it feel a bit less contrived...and it gives them an excuse to visit Wally West's hometown, just before he shows up in-story!

NTH METAL

In the comics, Nth metal is a special native to Thanagar, the home planet of Katar Hol and Shayera Thal -- the alien Hawkman and Hawkgirl (the origin of the Hawks is WEIRD, guys).

Among the unusual properties of Nth metal is the ability to negate gravity, allowing a person wearing an object, such as a belt, made of Nth Metal to fly. In addition, Nth metal also protects the wearer from the elements and speeds the healing of wounds, increases their strength, and protects them from extremes in temperature.

In the Geoff Johns reinvention that introduced the reincarnation themes to the Hawks, it was revealed that it was exposure to Nth metal that kickstarted their cycle or reincarnation.