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Not much is out there yet about the new CW series, Arrow, but thanks to Comic-Con we got to see the pilot and meet the producers, creators and stars. The show is based on the DC Comics Green Arrow and promises serious vigilante justice, hot hot heat between it’s leads, more DC Comics heroes, heroines and villains brought to life, and a future franchise that could be the next Smallville.

Damian Holbrook served as moderator and after the screening, which you can read about here, he brought out writer/producers Marc Gugenheim, Andrew Kreisberg and director/EP David Nutter, plus Katie Cassidy (Laurel) and Stephen Arnell (Arrow/Oliver Queen) to give us a look at the new series. We’ll highlight the most interesting and revealing Q’s and A’s.
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First question up was why Arrow now? Apparently it was the idea of Peter Roth, head of the WB studio. He came to them and said “Green Arrow TV show?” And they said, “Hell, yeah!”
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Are we going to see any DC Comics characters in the show? The villainess China White will be in the first season and be played by Kelly Hu.
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What about Steven and Katie as leads clicked? Their looks. Stephen was the first person to audition. Katie is a star and they were thrilled she consented to join their merry band.
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Stephen, what did you think of the role? “I didn’t know a ton about the Green Arrow, I knew I really liked the pilot, plus who doesn’t want to play a superhero on TV? I kind of always wanted to play the villain, but this will do for now. (ha ha) I’ve since read (the comic books) starting with year 1.” Then he told a story about telling his cousin we was going to get to ‘wear a suit.’
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How did the team come up with the suit? It’s very difficult. They started with Oscar winning costume designer, Coleen Atwood. They wanted to start with a leather jacket and a hood, and make sure it was grounded in reality. Then they started to “enhance.” The philosophy is grounded in the real, that he’s not wearing a costume, he’s wearing something that gives him a predatory advantage that he developed on the island.
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Katie, you’re playing in a character well known superhero in this world (Black Canary) are you ready for that and are you prepared to spend a lot of time in black fishnets? She’s ready!
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How soon will we see Katie’s character, Laurel, become a woman of action? “Not as soon as you want, but a lot sooner than you think.”
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Was there any discussion of spinning off the Green Arrow character seen on Smallville? Ultimately no, because this version is so dark, spinning it out of Smallville wouldn’t have worked. The Justin Hartley version on Smallville was awesome, there can be different versions of these characters. You can love the Christian Bale Batman as much as the Michael Keaton and Adam West ones.
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How do we reckon with the fact that Arrow is a killer and our hero? Because the show is realistic, Oliver couldn’t undertake something so monumental as cleaning up his city without there being collateral damage. His tactics aren’t always likable. There are snapped necks along the way.
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Should we expect the show to stay stylized and dark? There will be many layers to the show – at it’s core emotional resonance is most important. The leading character has PTSD from being on the island for 5 years. There will be times going back to the island to show what happened to him. We will learn more about the Death Stroke mask. The show will have easter eggs all over the place.
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Should this show be as successful be as other CW comic book shows, are you guys ready to be superheroes and super lovers for seven seasons? Absolutely.
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Arrow premieres October 11 on the CW.