Arrow: Easter Eggs and DC Comics References in "The Brave and the Bold"

While most of the Easter eggs on The Flash yesterday were pretty overt, heading over to Starling City on Arrow today brought, perhaps unsurprisingly, a bit more low-key.

Not to say there were particularly less of them -- we actually noticed a couple more -- but other than the casts crossing over (that doesn't count), the references were kept a little more subdued.

What did we see? What did we miss? Read on...

Arrowcave/Arrowmobile

Both the Arrowcave and Arrowmobile are actual things that have existed in the comics in the past, of course (because if you can't knock off Batman, what good are you to DC?), but the tongue-in-cheek references made it pretty clear it was meant to be more like the image above than anything in the typical canon.

Boomerang

Besides being the target of the investigation on Arrow and The Flash this week, Boomerang has been cast in David Ayer's upcoming feature film adaptation of Suicide Squad.

Like Green Arrow, Digger Harkness, aka Captain Boomerang, typically competes with the metahuman community by creating trick boomerangs that go beyond the limits of normal weapons. He is usually, but not always, depicted as speaking with an Australian accent.

While often a member of The Flash's Rogues Gallery, Captain Boomerang is one of the Rogues most likely to be found facing off against other DC heroes; in Identity Crisis, it was revealed that the classic Boomerang had a son, and that's the character who ultimately took over the role when the elder Captain died in the act of murdering Robin's father.

In the comics, Harkness has also been associated with the Suicide Squad, in both the comics and on Arrow, which makes it perhaps unsurprising that he's on the Squad in the movies.

As Owen Mercer, Harkness' son and the second Captain Boomerang, the character was able to utilize super speed like The Flash, via the Speed Force.

The character also appeared in Batman: Assault on Arkham, played by Greg Ellis. In Suicide Squad, he will be played by Jai Courteney, and on tomorrow night's Arrow, Nick Tarabay will reprise the role from last week's episode.

The Flash's musical cue

Just like when Arrow first appeared onscreen in The Flash last night, Barry comes complete with his own theme song as he makes his way to and through Starling City.

"Before he went rogue"

Get it? Captain Boomerang went...rogue?

Task Force X

They establish in this episode that Boomerang was part of Task Force X/Suicide Squad which, as mentioned above, is something he's done in the comics as well. Who might have died in his company when that operation went down badly? That'd be interesting to know...!

Salmon ladder "every Wednesday"

Indeed, he does seem to do that salmon ladder exercise every Wednesday, Felicity. Usually around 8 p.m. (7 Central).

Barry the fanboy

"This is gonna be so cool!" Barry says when he and Oliver decide to team up for a second time, betraying his fanboy roots from both the comics and Season Two of Arrow.

Lance: "It's been a while."

Not really an Easter egg, but a pretty loud wink at the audience. It does seem like it's been a while since Paul Blackthorne was on camera with anyone but Laurel or Arrow!

Bart Allen

Lance calls Barry Bart when he first sees him -- and, yes, both Barry and Bart can be short for Bartholomew.

More than that, though, Bart is Barry's grandson in the comics -- also known as the superhero Impulse (who later became Kid Flash and even, briefly, The Flash).

Superman and Batman

The discussion of their respective cities, states of emotional health, etc., makes these guys sound a lot like Batman and Superman, doesn't it? One's bright and light, the other is dark and oppressive, etc.

"Speedy"

heh. We already had the confusion of Roy and Thea vying for the nickname "Speedy." Throw a guy who's actually speedy into the mix...!

Title drop

"Sometimes bravery isn't enough; sometimes you have to be bold," says Lyla. Very nicely done.

Corner of Infantino and Adams

That would be Barry Allen co-creator Carmine Infantino and legendary Green Lantern/Green Arrow artist Neal Adams represented by that cross street.

Barry brings hope

Yep -- Barry does bring people hope, Cisco. Or at least he did when he had that Blue Lantern ring that was powered by the stuff!

Satan's Outlaws

The sign/graffiti for "Satan's Outlaws" is interesting, since it appears to be a gang from Grand Theft Auto Online.

Faith & Flower

Since they're also pretty common words, it's hard to tell whether this is on purpose, but the cross street of "Faith and Flower" includes two words that are the names of female superheroes in the DC Universe.

Multiplex

One of Barry's earliest villains gets a call out this week with the "I can't be in five places at once" comment.

Captain Boomerang

...And we get an official name for the guy!

Cellmates

If he's cellmates with Slade Wilson...and Manu Bennett has recently said that Slade will be back this season...hmm...!

Green Arrow

That's a much brighter green than his previous costume (even Oliver says, "Subtle!"). Part of his progression toward his "comic book destiny," perhaps?

Oliver Queen: Inspiration

Giving Oliver the idea that he can be an inspiration outside of the cowl is interesting. "What can one man do?" After all...?

Could we see Oliver embrace his city by using his public profile to affect positive change in the world?

Rocky III

Anybody who didn't see Rocky III can take solace in the fact that they basically took the last two minutes of it and just gave all the lines to Oliver and Barry in that final scene.