Tonight it was all about Arrow at PaleyFest, as the CW’s hit DC Comics adaptation held a panel at the popular TV festival, with cast and producers in attendance for a Q&A moderated by DC Comics’ Geoff Johns.
There were several hints given at what’s to come, as the series – already renewed for Season 2 – heads into the last few episodes of its first season.
Star Stephen Amell (“Oliver Queen”) said that Tommy learning Oliver’s secret in the most recent episode, which was written by Johns, “changes everything about their friendship. Aside from him being the vigilante, Tommy’s big problem is whether I’m being virtuous or not. I’ve killed people. He’s seen me kill people. Tommy is a good guy and he doesn’t want to see that - he doesn’t want to reconcile that.”
Whereas Oliver has gradually let others like Diggle and Felicity in on his secret, Amell noted, “I did not tell Tommy by design,” and that his concern now is, “My buffer to my family and to Laurel is way too thin.” As he joked, "Tommy could just roll over in bed and tell Laurel, ‘Hey, Oliver’s the vigilante!’”
Executive producer Andrew Kreisberg noted what also makes Tommy different is that he’s the first person in on the secret, “who knew the old Oliver,” unlike Diggle and Felicity, who had met Oliver recently. “He’s the first person whose entire worldview of Oliver is blown out of the water. That conflict will fuel the entire rest of the season.”
The (eventful!) last episode of Arrow also introduced us to Laurel’s mother, Dinah (Alex Kingston), who suggested Laurel’s sister, Sarah, is alive. Said executive producer Greg Berlanti, “A lot of stuff was set up even in the pilot,” including, “Sarah and what she means to the family and Oliver’s past. That’s something we definitely want to get back to and evolve the characters.”
Geoff Johns, Stephen Amell, Katie Cassidy, Susanna Thompson and David Ramsey
When it came to Laurel processing her sister possibly being alive, Katie Cassidy said her reaction and her character’s was probably one and the same: “I can’t quite think how to wrap my head around this. My initial reaction to it was a very sincere one of shock. I think Laurel being a lawyer has a reaction to things and she starts to get into it and rationalize it. Is she telling the truth? Does she have the correct information? “
Cassidy said that her mother will begin to challenge her father and, “has more information than you necessarily think.”
When it came to expanding the world of Arrow to include more touchstones of the DC Universe, executive producer Marc Guggenheim revealed, “Oliver will make a trip to Blüdhaven,” though he added, “Nightwing will not be there, unfortunately.” Kreisberg said they do want to continue to reference and even travel to other DC locations, though he added, there were, “Two cities he will provably never go to,” which we can safely assume are Metropolis and Gotham City.
As for whether we will see Laurel become Black Canary or the recently introduced Roy Harper become Speedy, Guggenheim said, “We never want to water down the crucible that Oliver went through,” referencing the five years spent on the island that transformed him, noting, “The evolution has to be real. The inciting incidents that may or may not turn someone into a vigilante have to have reality.”
When it came to Roy, Guggenheim said, “We will see some glimmers of where his potential can be,” adding the question always is, “How can we do this in as realistic a fashion as possible, because that’s the template of the series?” As Kreisberg noted, referring to Laurel, “She can’t have a bad day and just put on fishnets and start killing people,” but he said the hope was to eventually evolve the character to a place where her transformation could be credible.
Asked if he’d like a sidekick on the show, Amell said, “Having a sidekick would be cool. Diggle’s certainly not my sidekick. Dude can handle himself!”
In its short time on the air, Arrow has had a lot of notable genre guest stars, with cast members from series like Doctor Who, Fringe and Battlestar Galactica showing up. That looks to continue, with Guggenheim saying there was a guest star coming up they couldn’t talk about, “without being hurt physically by certain people.” Kreisberg elaborated this person was, “One of the stars of a very popular genre show that you will all recognize and be happy is on our show.”
The producers also discussed two major recurring players on the show, Malcolm Merlyn/Dark Archer (John Barrowman) and Slade Wilson/Deathstroke (Manu Bennett). Asked whether Oliver would regret saving Malcolm’s life, Guggenheim grinned and said, “Yeah,” with Kreisberg referring to Malcolm as, “Evil Bruce Wayne.” The producers have often described Christopher Nolan’s Batman films as an influence, and said they saw Malcolm as the guy who would have gone through with Ra's al Ghul's command to kill a prisoner in Batman Begins, noting he was a classic example of being, “the hero of your own story.”
As for Slade Wilson, the producers credited Johns for him being established in the first place, recalling that when they were working on the pilot, director David Nutter felt they needed, “one more thing – one more secret” to set up and it was Johns who said, “Deathstroke’s mask should be sitting somewhere.”
Guggenheim described Oliver and Slade as having a “proto Butch and Sundance” dynamic, and said he loved the character’s inclusion, though how much he’ll appear in the future will depend on Manu Bennett’s availability. Coming up on the show though, he teased the introduction of, “a third element that will complicate that relationship.”
Arrow airs Wednesdays at 8pm ET/PT on The CW.
Eric Goldman is Executive Editor of IGN TV. You can follow him on Twitter at @EricIGN, IGN at ericgoldman-ign and Facebook at Facebook.com/TheEricGoldman.
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