During the CW’s panel at the TCAs, we learned that an established, “significant” character in the Arrowverse would be coming out this season.
Speaking of the decision to explore this character’s sexuality in the upcoming season, executive producer Greg Berlanti said, “We had a character who we had discussed as a possibility last year internally, and it didn’t materialize.”
He went on to tell reporters after the panel, “We didn’t get to the story. We just didn’t have enough real estate to deal with it in the way that we wanted to deal with it. So when we were planning this season, we said to the network and the studio that it was a priority for us, and everyone was cool with it.”
For anyone that may be feeling apprehensive about the established character’s sexuality being explored this late in the game, Berlanti said that, “it feels real that this character could have been struggling with not expressing this, and then real as they start to discover it, and then, obviously, real as they settle into being who they really are.”
Per TV Line, we know that the character in question “is not someone on Arrow or Legends of Tomorrow.”
So which character on Supergirl or The Flash is gay?
Whoever the character is, they’ll be in good company with other queer characters in the Arrowverse, which include Sara Lance, Nyssa al Ghul, Curtis and Paul Holt, Hartley Rathaway, and Captain David Singh and his husband Rob. But we’re going to take a look at the most likely characters that could come out when the Arrowverse returns this Fall, based on Berlanti’s comments from the TCAs.
Gay or bisexual character on ‘The Flash’
Cisco Ramon
Ah, Cisco. Our favorite unsung hero on The Flash. We already know some significant changes are coming for the character, thanks to the Flashpoint event triggered by Barry saving his mother’s life at the close of the second season. But could Cisco coming out as queer be another?
Cisco has had two potential partners in Lisa Snart, and Kendra Saunders — though neither quite panned out. Lisa rode off on her motorcycle after the events of “Family of Rogues,” and Kendra… well. She turned out to have a complicated, lifetime spanning romance with Carter Hall, a.k.a. Prince Khufu.
The character has palpable chemistry with everyone that he interacts with, so having Cisco come out as bisexual in season 3 wouldn’t be out of left field. Maybe we’d even see the return of Hartley as a potential love interest. He did, after all, become an ally to Team Flash after Barry altered the timeline.
Wally West
Despite being a part of the West family, who play a crucial role in The Flash, we don’t know much about Wally West, prior to his arrival in Central City in season 2.
With his tentative relationship with his family taking center stage last season, it’s hardly surprising that Wally’s love life wasn’t something that was explored. We know we’ll be dealing with the events of Flashpoint in the early episodes of season 3, including Wally’s role as Kid Flash, but following that, anything is possible.
Perhaps Wally could develop a crush on the newest addition to the Central City Police Department. We certainly wouldn’t blame him…
Gay or bisexual character on ‘Supergirl’
Winn Schott
Jeremy Jordan certainly hasn’t been quiet about wanting his character, Winn, to be gay. He said as much during a PaleyFest panel earlier this year, when Berlanti was questioned about adding a queer character to Supergirl’s roster. So, we know that Jordan would be on board with the shift, heading into Supergirl’s sophomore season.
During the course of the first season, Winn had two romantic interests — Kara, our titular hero, and Siobhan, who eventually became the villain Silver Banshee. Other than that, there’s nothing to suggest that Winn couldn’t feel attraction to the same sex — and we certainly don’t see enough bisexual characters on mainstream television.
And, let’s be honest, no one is going to be completely immune to Superman’s sunshine smile.
Alex Danvers
There’s little doubt that the central theme of Supergirl’s first season was family, both found and blood, and the relationship between Alex and Kara was arguably the most important, and the one that warranted the most screentime dedicated to it.
But unlike her sister, Alex did not have any romantic interests throughout the freshman season — whilst Kara had Winn, Adam Foster and Jimmy Olsen. Maxwell Lord seemed to take something of an interest in Alex, but she firmly rebuffed his advances.
With things a little more settled at the D.E.O., and the sisters’ relationship stronger than ever, following Kara’s debut as Supergirl, it would make sense to explore Alex’s sexuality in the sophomore season — especially with the recent addition of Detective Maggie Sawyer to the cast.