New Details Revealed for Potential ‘Green Arrow and the Canaries’ Spinoff

Present Tense
Sergei Bachlakov/The CW

What does life look like post-“Crisis on Infinite Earths” for the characters of Arrow? Based on the newest details for the potential spinoff “Green Arrow and the Canaries” — the ninth episode of the final season serves as a backdoor pilot — things will be very different.

And that fits with what showrunner Beth Schwartz said about what’s next: “It changes everything.” Case in point, the CW’s description for the episode reveals that Katherine McNamara’s Mia Smoak will be going by Mia Queen. That presumably means that her existence isn’t a secret in 2040. (Remember, Felicity had made sure no one knew about her in the future.)

“It’s the year 2040 in Star City and Mia Queen has everything she could have ever wanted,” according to the network. “However, when Laurel (Katie Cassidy) and Dinah (Juliana Harkavy) suddenly show up in her life again, things take a shocking turn and her perfect world is upended. Laurel and Dinah are tracking a kidnapping victim with direct ties to Mia and they need her help. Knowing it will change everything, Mia can’t help but be a hero and she, Laurel and Dinah suit up once again to save the city.”

When we first met Mia in 2040, she was going by Blackstar and her identity was a secret from pretty much everyone. However, the future team’s trip back in time has presumably changed quite a bit about 2040. What could Mia having “everything she could have ever wanted” mean for Oliver’s (Stephen Amell) fate? He left with The Monitor (LaMonica Garrett) when Mia was just a baby and the 2040 scenes thus far made it seem like he died. We’ll likely have to wait until at least the end of “Crisis” to get a clearer picture as to what’s going on and if Felicity’s (Emily Bett Rickards) 2040 ending may be rewritten. (Rickards is returning for the series finale.)

We’ll also have to wait to see which other 2040 characters may be involved in the backdoor pilot and potential spinoff.

The January 21 episode was written by Schwartz, Marc Guggenheim, Jill Blankenship, and Oscar Balderrama and directed by Tara Miele.

Arrow, Tuesdays, 8/7c, The CW