New faces highlight roster of DC shows on The CW this fall

The CW will be practically poxy with DC Comics-based superhero shows this fall, and on Saturday at the 2016 Comic-Con International in San Diego, there was a quartet of panels to catch everyone up on what's going on when the shows return.

The four panels held in the Ballroom 20 venue at the convention center were for "Supergirl," "DC's Legends of Tomorrow," "The Flash" and "Arrow."

The panels were all a lot of fun, even if some were light on new details. There was even some singing involved.

Supergirl

"Supergirl" is moving to The CW from CBS for its second season, and it's adding a few new cast members. One of those new faces, Tyler Hoechlin, who will play Supergirl's cousin, Superman, was there at the panel to join fellow cast members Melissa Benoist, David Harewood, Chyler Leigh, Mehcad Brooks and Jeremy Jordan.

Other new cast members not in attendance are Ian Gomez, who will play a "very Lou Grant" Snapper Carr, new editor in chief of CatCo Magazine, Floriana Lima, who will play longtime Superman supporting character Maggie Sawyer, and Chris Wood, who executive producer Sarah Schechter revealed will play the mystery occupant of the pod Supergirl found at the end of the first season.

Alas, she didn't divulge the identity of that mystery occupant. As previously mentioned, former Wonder Woman star Lynda Carter will play the president of the United States.

Season 2 of "Supergirl" premieres at 8 p.m. October 10.

DC's Legends of Tomorrow

Things could get a little crowded this season on LoT. As hinted by the appearance of Rex Tyler, aka Hourman (Patrick J. Adams) at the end of last season, the Legends team is going to meet more members of the Justice Society of America this season.

In addition to Hourman, viewers can look forward to seeing Hank Heywood, aka Citizen Steel (Nick Zano) and Amaya Jiwe, aka Vixen (Maisie Richardson-Sellers), as well as Dr. Mid-Nite, Stargirl, Obsidian and Commander Steel. Old West bounty hunter Jonah Hex will return this season as well.

Also, instead of one major villain to fight, the team is going to face multiple villains. A Legion of Doom, if you will: Eobard Thawne, the Reverse-Flash (Matt Letscher); Malcolm Merlyn (John Barrowman); and Damian Darhk (Neal McDonough). Oh, and we'll see some more of Captain Cold (Wentworth Miller), too.

Season 2 of "DC's Legends of Tomorrow" premieres at 8 p.m. October 13.

The Flash

"Now who's the villain, Flash? Now who's the villain?"

The panel for the third season of "The Flash" opened with a first look at some of what's going on.

See, this is what happens when you mess with the timeline, which Barry did at the end of last season. In the first episode, "Flashpoint," we'll catch up with Barry after he's been living in this new reality for about three months. And as illustrated in that teaser, things are quite different. Both his parents are alive, but he was never taken in by Joe West, so they don't have as close a relationship.

This new Flashpoint reality will also affect characters on "Arrow," with John Diggle being specifically mentioned.

This season, Flash and company will be taking on two big-bads. One is a speedster to be revealed later, but the other is Dr. Alchemy, who will be voiced by Tobin Bell (Jigsaw from the "Saw" movies). In the comics, Dr. Alchemy vexed the Flash by using his Philosopher's Stone to transmute elements and cause all sorts of trouble.

Joining the cast this season is Tom Felton, who plays Julian Dorn, a fellow CSI who works with Barry but will have some friction with him. During the panel Felton noted the last time he was at Comic-Con, he was representing another franchise that involved a lightning bolt.

Other highlights of the panel included a hilarious demonstration of the rapport between Tom Cavanagh (Harry Wells) and Carlos Valdes (Cisco Ramon) and an impromptu tap-dance exhibition from Grant Gustin (Flash) and Jesse L. Martin (Joe West).

Season 3 of "The Flash" premieres at 8 p.m. October 4.

Arrow

This season on "Arrow," Oliver Queen (Stephen Amell) will be recruiting a new team, as seen in the teaser. The show will also celebrate its 100th episode, and that episode will fall right in the middle of the mega-crossover between the other DC CW shows.

This season's major villain is named Prometheus, though executive producer Marc Guggenheim was quick to explain in the panel that it's not the Prometheus that faced the Justice League in Grant Morrison's run on JLA. The audience was also assured that Katie Cassidy, whose character Laurel Lance died last season, will be back this season.

A question during the Q&A portion of the panel resulted in a delightful "Arrow" cast performance of "You'll Be Back" from "Hamilton," with John Barrowman (Malcolm Merlyn) leading the audience to sing along.

Season 5 of "Arrow" premieres at 8 p.m. October 5.

Disclosure: The CW is a joint venture between Warner Bros and CBS, the owners of CNET.