The Arrow spinoff featuring the Canaries has begun filming, as star Katherine McNamara shares the good news with fans. The news comes following the premiere of Arrow’s eighth and final season last week. The last season will have a total of 10 episodes, and feature the Crisis on Infinite Earths crossover near the end of its run. Crisis on Infinite Earths is the longest event ever attempted by the Arrowverse, with characters from all six shows on The CW coming together to save the multiverse. The Crisis played a big role in Arrow’s premiere, as Oliver traveled to Earth-2 looking for a material that might prevent it, or at least lessen the damage.
The new show, titled Green Arrow and the Canaries, will feature Oliver’s daughter Mia Smoak (McNamara) as she becomes the new Green Arrow. McNamara joined Arrow last year for the show’s flash forwards set in 2040, which is likely when the spinoff series will take place. Green Arrow and the Canaries will also feature Earth-2’s Laurel Lance/Black Siren (Katie Cassidy Rodgers) and Dinah Drake/Black Canary (Juliana Harkavy). Rodgers has been with Arrow for most of its run, though she originally played Laurel from Earth-1. Harkavy joined the show in a recurring capacity in season 5, and has been a series regular since season 6. The spinoff series was first announced last month.
McNamara posted the video celebrating the start of filming on Green Arrow and the Canaries earlier today on Twitter. In it, she says: “So, today’s pretty special. It is the first day of shooting on the backdoor pilot, as it were, of Green Arrow and the Canaries.” She also spoke on how she was feeling about the day ahead, continuing, “It’s really exciting. I really don’t know what’s in store, but whatever it is, it’s gonna be pretty badass.” Though the new series has so far only confirmed McNamara, Rodgers, and Harkavy to star, it doesn’t mean other great female characters from the world of DC can’t eventually join the fun. Check out McNamara’s video about the Arrow spinoff series below:
Green Arrow and the Canaries won’t be the first spinoff of Arrow: The Flash also got its start that way. In 2013, eventual series star Grant Gustin guest-starred on Arrow before eventually filming a standard pilot for The Flash. Additionally, many characters on Legends of Tomorrow started out on Arrow, including Ray Palmer/The Atom and Sara Lance/White Canary. Plus, though none of its characters originated on Arrow, the new series Batwoman is similar in style, focusing on hand-to-hand combat the same way that Arrow does. Even if Green Arrow and the Canaries doesn’t go to series, the show that started it all will still be represented.
It’s difficult to figure out exactly where the Canaries-led spinoff will land in Arrow’s final season. With only 10 episodes, the series is likely nearing the end of filming, suggesting the backdoor pilot will air near the end of Arrow’s run. However, as shows sometimes film out of order, especially for backdoor pilots, the filming start date may not indicate anything about when it’ll air. Complicating matters, the Arrowverse is also in the middle of filming on Crisis on Infinite Earths, meaning that many things are being filmed out of order right now. At any rate, Arrow fans should be excited to hear that filming has begun on Green Arrow and the Canaries, no matter when it ends up airing.
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Source: Katherine McNamara
