The CW’s Legends of Tomorrow has hit the ground running at a frantic and entertaining pace. The show itself is a wealth of super-heroic and villainous characters who populate the DC Universe, some of them having already made their first appearances on Arrow and The Flash. The team has been set, and even though they’ve already lost one of their own along the way, the time traveling continues and there could be some more additions to this gang of misfits before long. Last month, the old West stalwart in the DCU, Jonah Hex, was teased and subsequently cast to appear later this season, with actor Johnathon Schaech bringing him to life; sorry DC heads, Josh Brolin will not be revisiting the role.

After dropping the bombshell that the Legends will be traveling to the Wild West, the Instagram account for DC Comics hinted at three more big DC mainstays that may be joining the cast this season. Ma Hunkel as the original Red Tornado, Hourman, and Sandman were all teased in individual name-drops by the account. While Ma Hunkel is obviously a given as to which Red Tornado it will be, the identities of which Hourman and which Sandman will be appearing are still up in the air, though some confirmation comes courtesy of the pictures themselves. With these teases released, we thought we’d take this chance to walk you through the backgrounds of each of these characters within the wide tapestry of the DC Universe and what their appearances could mean for The CW universe as a whole.

Red Tornado (Ma Hunkel)

justice-society-of-america-ma-hunkel-red-tornado
Image via DC Comics

Ah yes, Ma Hunkel, now we’re digging deep into the DCU. While you may be questioning who this strange character is, let me tell you, you should already know because Hunkel may very well be the first female super hero ever made. That’s right, she even predates Wonder Woman by about a year! Originally created as something of a parody, Ma ran around the city wearing long johns and a pot on her head that functioned as a helmet and helped conceal her identity. Her powers, as opposed to the robotic Red Tornado currently appearing in CBS’s Supergirl series who can spin around to literally create tornadoes, consisted of basically just being super strong and being able to cook for a lot of people at once (which is a super power apparently). Ms. Hunkel did some random crime fighting across the city, which eventually led her directly into the path of the Justice Society of America. Seeing her formidability against the scourge of the underworld, the JSA offered Ma a spot as a reserve member of the team, and then Hunkel drifted into comic book limbo.

For decades, Ma Hunkel remained lost to the sands of time, only to reappear in the DCU in 2004 during Geoff Johns’ run on the comic book, "Justice Society of America." Where had Ma been this whole time? Why in witness protection, of course! Since her crime fighting had run her afoul of the mob, Ma was forced to go underground, claim a new identity, and only appear once the last mobster in the gang simply died of old age. While Ma did not re-don her legendary pot/helmet, she hung around the Justice Society for a spell, mostly because of her children. That’s right, her daughter and son-in-law were in fact the Cyclone Twins, who helped to train young heroes. While the twins eventually drifted into comic limbo like their predecessor, Ma’s granddaughter, Maxine, became the new Cyclone and joined the Justice Society proper. Considering the time traveling angle of the Legends of Tomorrow, expect to see a younger Ma Hunkel, rather than an older grandmother ushering in a new generation of heroes.

Sandman (Wesley Dodds)

justice-society-of-america-sandman
Image via DC Comics

In comics, there’s a lot of “Sandmen”. There’s the DC Vertigo universe’s Morpheus, the Sandman who’s the lord of dreams. There’s Marvel’s Flint Marko, the Sandman who troubles Spider-Man on a regular basis. There’s even been a Sandman who followed the original version we’re discussing in this article, joining the JSA in the modern era with powers similar to Marvel’s version. The Sandman we’re looking at here is Wesley Dodds, a private investigator who uses a gun to knock out criminals along with a gas mask to protect himself from being knocked out. Originally created in 1939 by writer Gardner Fox and artist Bert Christman Dodds had more of a pulp noir feel rather than a super heroic one, considering his profession and all. This was the case until DC decided to jump on the superhero train and create the Justice Society of America, with Wesley Dodds being one of the founding members.

When Wesley Dodds would resurface, to help DC capitalize on the Morpheus Sandman which was popular at the time, a modern retelling of some of his pulpy stories were created. Still taking place in the 1930s, Dodds battled much darker villains and dealt with far more grim real life situations. How he eventually dropped into the main DC Universe was through the Justice Society being introduced to modern times, as one of their adventures during World War II had basically trapped them inside a timeless “Ragnarok” wherein they were forced to fight legions of monsters and villains for a seemingly endless time until brought into modern civilization. Dodds’ involvement in the Legends of Tomorrow should make for a fantastic adventure, having the team entering a pulp noir adventure and visiting one of DC’s most unsung legendary characters.

Hourman (Matthew Tyler)

justice-society-of-america-hourman
Image via DC Comics

While both the Red Tornado and the Sandman take us into the past, Hourman takes us into the far, FAR future. Matthew Tyler lives in the 853rd century (that is crazy into the future) and is in fact an android that was created using the original Hourman’s DNA. Rex Tyler existed in the same time as Ma and Wesley, eventually joining up with the Justice Society, and his progeny got super powers as well, and joined the modern iteration. Matthew is a whole different animal however, being somewhat closer to Marvel’s the Vision, having powers that allow him to see into the future, the past, and everywhere in between. This Hourman returned to the present not only to join the Justice Society, but the Justice League as well, helping the team out during a momentous crossover between most of the DC Universe during Grant Morrison’s run on JLA. Matthew is extremely detached and grapples with trying to understand humanity, but eventually integrates himself with us by giving away a lot of his god-like abilities.

Why the character, and his predecessors, originally were called Hourman is not really because of time-traveling ability, but rather because of a drug they took which granted them super powers for an hour at a time. While it’s certainly possible that the original versions can appear on The CW, it appears that the android version will be the one showing up in Legends of Tomorrow. This offers a new perspective on the team of someone who isn’t quite human, along with taking them so far into the future that your head will spin.

DC's Legends of Tomorrow has made a huge splash with The CW so far, and it’s sure to continue making waves with these off-beat heroes, though none of their appearances other than Jonah Hex have been confirmed or cast just yet. Legends of Tomorrow airs Thursday nights at 8pm on The CW.