Vixen Springs from CW Seed to Blu-ray Movie

Having established critical successes with both ARROW and THE FLASH, CW broke even more fertile ground by utilizing their webisode engine, CW SEED, to expand the Arrowverse with the premier of VIXEN.

Vixen, aka Mari Jiwe McCabe, is voiced by MEGALYN ECHIKUNWOKE, who later played the real life role on ARROW in the episodes "Lian Yu" and "Taken," is the creation of comic book veterans Gerry Conway, Curt Swan and Bob Oksner. Her powers are those of the animal kingdom, granted her through her "Tantu Totem," which has been renamed in this feature as the Anansi Totem.

Mari is a foster child with identity problems. She longs to know more about where she came from. But the only clue to her past is the Anansi Totem given her by her biological mother when she was just an infant. Now grown, the totem has begun to cause strange things to happen around her -- magical, elemental things. This brings her to the attention of S.T.A.R. Labs' Cisco Ramon, who sends The Flash and Arrow out to investigate. Naturally, the first meeting of heroes quickly devolves into a fight that shows the range of Vixen's new abilities.

Seeking answers to her history leads Mari to Professor Macalester (SEAN PATRICK THOMAS), who is an authority on African archaeology. Unfortunately for Mari, he's also in the employ of Mari's long-lost sister, Kuasa (ANIKA NONI ROSE), who wants the Anansi Totem for herself -- and she's not above killing Mari to obtain it if that's what's necessary. The adventure takes Mari to Africa, where she communicates with the spirits of the animals and her ancestors to make her claim to the totem final.

That's not the end of the story, however. Originally told in separate arcs, themselves split into separate webisodes, VIXEN: THE MOVIE has been seamlessly edited together so that it flows from beginning to end, taking Mari on a journey of discovery about what it actually means to access the animal abilities she has at her disposal. And when other totems from her village are discovered, harnessing the energies of Fire and Water (Earth and Air remain lost, for future use), Mari must call in the help of her friends -- Green Arrow and Flash, as well as Black Canary, The Atom, and Firestorm.

The beauty of this animated extension of the Arrowverse is that the producers brought in all the live-action cast members to provide the voices for their animated counterparts. The end result is a wonderful addition to a fan-favorite shared universe that fits perfectly with what's gone before it, even though it's animated. (Note: The Vixen character that appears in LEGENDS OF TOMORROW, played by MAISIE RICHARDSON-SELLERS, is this Vixen's grandmother, Amaya Jiwe, who in the Arrowverse was a founding member of the Justice Society.)