But thats not the only big bad hell be tackling.
Were trying to introduce a more adrenaline-fueled flashback story this year, Guggenheim says.
Time to expand the Arrow cave!
Credit: Bettina Strauss/The CW
We planned a normal time jump in broadcast that we typically do.
Off-camera, Olivers been officially elected mayor, and hes been operating as mayor.
The problem is, hes also been operating as the Green Arrow without a team.
Its related to a second theme or a sub-theme, which is that of moving on.
In the season premiere, Olivers very much frozen in amber.
As the season progresses, youll see that there are a lot of callbacks to season 1.
Your new villain Prometheus also has to do with legacy.
I can really only say that Oliver bears a measure of responsibility for the creation of Prometheus.
With Oliver falling short in the mayoral position, Thea is basically serving as mayor.
Well, Malcolm is not in the early episodes.
Thats partially by design.
We wanted to give Thea a chance to establish herself independent of Malcolm.
In many ways, shes a much better chief of staff than Oliver is a mayor.
This is Thea in full.
Shes really come into her own.
Its fun to write, and its also really great to see.
Talk about Felicity this season, both on the team and off.
We know she has a new love interest, what does that mean for her and Oliver?
Yeah, weve got a really great storyline planned out for Felicity this year.
The answer is we are most definitely not ignoring it.
Its really new territory for her, and weve very excited about it.
What about for Diggle this season?
We pick up with Diggle and hes in Russia.
Hes operating in Chechnya, but as member of the Special Forces.
He is searching for that moral compass that he lost at the end of season 4.
Hes not going to be able to live his life the way he had been living it before.
Russia is the setting for the flashbacks this year.
Can you talk a bit about that and whether were going to see Red Star this season?
No plans for introducing Red Star just yet.
This is the last year of the flashbacks.
We always said it was five years worth of flashbacks.
Were in our fifth season.
Were trying to connect up the flashbacks thematically to the present-day story.
Were trying to introduce a more adrenaline-fueled flashback story this year.
Were dealing with, obviously, Oliver joining the Bratva, and this parallels Oliver bringing in new recruits.
If this is the final year of flashbacks, what does that mean for the future of the show?
Were canceled after season 5.
No, Im kidding.
Weve talked about a lot of different things.
You may even get a flash-forward story.
Lets talk a little bit more about Oliver training this new Team Arrow.
That said, first of all, we are handling it in a realistic manner.
Hes not going to suddenly put on a costume and become Superman, No.
He wants to do his best to join this team and earn a place on this team.
How about for some of the other newbies?
Theyre really great, and its always fun to see this group together.
Finally, were bringing back Evelyn Stark from episode 319, and shes going to be Artemis.
Rory is dark and mysterious, at least when hes wearing the Ragman rags.
And Evelyn is very young and enthusiastic, but really inexperienced.
We dont have someone in the SCPD who our team can interact with and work cases with.
Tyler Ritter, we created his character to be a little bit like an anti-Lance.
Hes obviously younger than Lance.
Susan Williams is actually a character weve been wanting to do since season 1.
With that in mind, whats next for Lance this season?
I dont want to fully spoil it.
In season 1, obviously he was a detective.
In season 2, he was a beat cop.
In season 3 and 4, he was the police captain.
Obviously at the end of season 4, we fired him.
We know that Laurels coming back.
Are we finally learning what she said before she died?
You are absolutely going to learn what she said.
You will learn what she said in the season premiere.
Will Roy Harper (Colton Haynes) be returning?
Its funny, I saw this stuff online, like, Roy Harpers back on Arrow this year.
I was like, Really?
I dont remember reading that script.
The answer is, as always, we love Colton and we love having Colton on the show.
Assuming we have the right combination of story and Coltons schedule availability, hell absolutely return.
Lastly, how will Flashpoint affectArrow?
Arrowreturns Wednesday at 8 p.m.
ET on The CW.
