'Arrow's Helix Is Very Different From The Comics

After providing a deep web assist to the team several times earlier in Season 5, Helix is back on Arrow. We previously met Kacey Rohl as Kojo Sledgehammer, a young hacker (and huge Felicity fangirl) trying to make a difference, but now, the villainous organization is hoping to recruit Felicity to pay them back for all of the help in the latest Arrow episode. This continued focus on the group may cause viewers to believe that Helix is from DC Comics, but that's actually a little complicated. Because while there could be some inspiration there, this version of Helix has already distinguished itself from previous entities.

At the very least, it seems like the name has been lifted from the comics. DC had a team of supervillains named the Helix, but instead of hackers, they were originally a group of kids who were experimented on and mutated by the evil Dr. Benjamin Love. Appearing in only a few issues of the 1980s series Infinity Inc., the six members of the Helix were abandoned as teens, and thus turned to using their powers for personal gain. But a group of strangely mutated kids with powers that include force field generation and a half-man, half-dog hybrid certainly seems a bit out of character for a show that's usually pretty grounded, like Arrow — especially since Kojo Sledgehammer was just a normal young, kind of nerdy hacker.

But the March 1 episode, "Fighting Fire With Fire," could reveal that Helix's aliases are hiding something completely unexpected. After all, there must be some explanation as to why Helix is so well-connected within the dark web... and no one is more Internet-savvy than a group of teens. Felicity was already surprised at the identity of one Helix member, so maybe while they're attempting to recruit her to return some of their favors, she'll find out that none of them are quite as intimidating as she first assumed.

There is one other possible connection between the Helix offered in the comics and the one featured on Arrow Season 5. In the comics, Helix member and metahuman Arak Wind-Walker, who had the power of controlling the wind and air, ultimately joined forces with Prometheus. Now, executive producer did say at San Diego Comic-Con before the season started that Arrow's Prometheus is a new character, but it's still an interesting coincidence.

Though it may not mean that Arrow is planning on adapting the Helix as a group of six unruly teens with superpowers, but it could hint at a possible connection between Prometheus and the Helix storyline. Revealing that Felicity has basically been currying favor with Prometheus for half of Season 5 does seem like something Arrow would do. So while Helix may not look much like its DC Comics counterpart, there could be a fascinating reveal ahead.