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ARROW News Round-Up: Returning Characters, S3E3 Title, FLASH Crossovers, New Big Bad And More

We have another Arrow news round-up, featuring plenty of interesting nuggets for its third season. Appearing at TCA 2014 today, CW President Mark Pedowitz promised plenty of crossovers between the series and its spin-off, The Flash. “You will see — organically — characters shifting over, villains shifting over back and forth between ‘Flash’ and ‘Arrow.’ We will be introducing more villains that are part of the DC Comics universe.” He then revealed that the network “occasionally” talks to Warner Bros. about potentially connecting the two shows to the DC Cinematic Universe, but it’s ultimately up to the studio. Don’t count on the two worlds being linked, however.

Additionally, Green Arrow TV has learned the title for Arrow Season 3 Episode 3: “Corto Maltese.” This is an exciting Easter egg, as Corto Maltese was an island referenced in the acclaimed graphic novel The Dark Knight Returns. It was also previously mentioned by Deadshot in the show’s first season. Perhaps this episode will be Floyd Lawton and/or Suicide Squad centric?

Meanwhile, executive producer Andrew Kreisberg spoke with TV Guide in a lengthy interview. He confirmed that there will be a 7-8 month time jump from the end of Season 2, and he gives the rundown on what to expect from the start of the new year. “We’re going to jump the same amount of time that we did last year. It’ll be real time. It’ll be seven or eight months later. For Oliver, things are good. As we like to say, everything is coming up Arrow. Crime is down. At the end of last year, there was victory. A lot of this season is about what happens when you win and how winning isn’t always as easy as it looks. In the premiere, Lance (Paul Blackthorne) actually disbands the anti-vigilante task force in his new role as Captain. The Arrow is free to do his thing and it’s different for Oliver. He spent the first two years being hunted and distrusted. Now, he’s starting to feel like he has this under control. And then, of course, as Joss Whedon taught us all, you let your characters have a moment of happiness and then you take it all away from them.” After being asked about bringing in Ra’s al Ghul, Kreisberg weighed in on the new Big Bad for Arrow, teasing his/her “big” presence as well as other recurring villains. “It’s big. I can say that he’s big and he’s bad. We’re still figuring that stuff out. As far as the Big Bad, there will be a Big Bad. Even last year, everybody was a subset of Slade’s (Manu Bennett). Slade was the Big Bad. We will meet other villains along the way, as always. We’ll have recurring villains and new villains we’re starting with this year and people who are coming back from the previous two seasons.” 


Talk then turned to perhaps the most exciting recurring role of the season so far: Brandon Routh’s Ray Palmer. “It’s Season 3, and Season 3 is typically when you add that game-changing character like Buffy did in adding Faith or Everwood did with adding Scott Wolf,” says Kreisberg. “First of all, getting Brandon — he couldn’t be nicer, he couldn’t be sweeter. It’s just such a different energy that he’s bringing to the show. A lot of what’s funny about Felicity and Oliver is that he’s so straight and she’s the funny one. With Brandon, you get somebody who’s as tall, square-jawed and handsome as he is [and] he’s a really funny comedian. He and Felicity can have that verbal repartee that we haven’t typically had on the show. As much as the show is getting darker, it’s gotten a lot funnier. It’s just such a different energy. He and Felicity are really cute together.” As for whether or not Laurel will become the Black Canary sooner than later, the EP says, “As always with all of these things, you can’t just put on a mask and go running around. You’ll get killed. Laurel is still just an attorney. She’s an attorney with a jacket. I think Katie Cassidy fans are going to be very, very excited about her trajectory this year. Laurel is going to have a new love interest this season.”



And here we have the biggest reveal from the interview. Kreisberg revealed that Colin Donnell will reprise his role as Tommy Merlyn from Arrow‘s first season in the flashback portions of Season 3’s second episode, titled “Sara.” “Colin Donnell is coming back in Episode 302. Tommy will be in the flashback story. We’ll be telling the story about how Tommy and Oliver just missed each other in Hong Kong. It’s a really amazing story and we’re so excited to have Colin Donnell back. It’s one of the advantages of the storytelling that we do that even when you die in the present day, you can still be alive in the flashbacks. It was something that we had talked about last year and then when we committed to doing the Hong Kong story, we knew we could really make it work.” Tommy’s death was a key driving force in Oliver’s transition from vigilante to hero in the second season, and seeing the character return (even though it’s only in flashbacks) is always pleasant.

Kreisberg then had this to say concerning Sara Lance’s role in the new season. “She plays a big role in the new season. We have her booked for three episodes and hopefully for more. We love Caity Lotz. She’s so amazing. Watching the dailies of her in the premiere and seeing her back, it’s always fun to see her. As much as her stuntwoman does, Caity really does get out there on her own and it’s fun to watch.” Finally, the executive producer discussed Thea’s role this year. “We always say that if you’re ever going to become who you are in the comics, you have to go to the island. Oliver literally went to the island. We always said last year was Roy’s trip to the island. This season is about Thea’s trip to her version of the island.” 


For the full interview – in which Kreisberg discussed flashbacks, Roy’s role in Team Arrow and more – click the link above. Arrow returns to The CW on October 8th.

Founder and Editor-in-Chief of WOBAM! Entertainment.