Marc Guggenheim Explains How ARROW Will Utilize Flashbacks After Season 5

Arrow is well known for its incorporation of flashback scenes in almost every episode. Usually, these flashbacks would focus on Oliver Queen’s five-year journey before his return to Starling City in season one. However, over the last couple seasons, the flashbacks became uninteresting, especially when there was no connection to the present-day timeline.

Yesterday, it was confirmed that the main flashback storyline will conclude in Arrow‘s fifth season. However, assuming the show is renewed for season six, flashbacks won’t go away forever. In an interview with IGN, executive producer Marc Guggenheim explains.

While the “island narrative” will finish this coming season, Guggenheim says that flashbacks will still be used on Arrow season six. How? “Next year, in Season 6, what we’ll end up doing is we’ll do some episodes without any sort of flashbacks,” he says. “We’ve [also] established over the first four seasons of proof of concept that we can do flashback stories that don’t involve what I call the island narrative, even when he’s not on the island.”

Some episodes of Arrow dedicated their flashbacks to characters other than Oliver Queen. These include Diggle, Malcolm Merlyn, Felicity and the Lance family. So, it would make sense to continue them in future seasons. Guggenheim also reaffirms that the writing team enjoys creating flashback scenes, so they’ll keep doing them. “We like when those non-island flashbacks sort of illuminate what’s going on in the present day. That’ll always be a part of the show and a part of the show’s storytelling structure. It just won’t be telling a serialized story.”

Guggenheim even brought up the idea of doing a flashforward episode, expressing interest in one featuring Oliver or Diggle. However, there has been more focus on continuing the flashbacks instead. DC’s Legends of Tomorrow had an episode set 30 years in the future, with an older Oliver and Connor Hawke. It would be great to revisit that timeline on either show.

For Guggenheim’s comments on this season’s Russia-set flashbacks and his regret over the season four flashbacks, click HERE.

Arrow returns on Wednesday, October 5th at 8 PM EST on The CW.