'Arrow' season 5 spoilers, news: Stephen Amell suggests Batman reference; EP hints more scenes with Thea
"Arrow" premiered in 2012 with a lot of elements borrowed from Batman's lore, with its dark and gritty storyline about a broody billionaire who fights crime in his city as a masked vigilante. Now, lead actor Stephen Amell has come up with an idea on how the series can make a reference to the Dark Knight.
"Just once I'd like to do a floating Arrow symbol like the original Batman Series," the actor recently tweeted, along with a photo of an old TV set showing Batman's signature logo.
As Cinemablend points out, "Arrow" could easily get away with a floating arrow symbol. All of the superhero shows in The CW have already snuck Batman references into their storylines, making "Arrow" actually the last one to do it. Fans can recall that Rip Hunter from "Legends of Tomorrow" previously referred to a "dark knight" during its freshman run, while "Supergirl" has been hinting at a Batman living on Earth-38. "The Flash" also showed Barry reading a future newspaper hinting at a Wayne Tech that will soon merge with a company called Queen Inc.
On another note, one of the great hallmarks of the show is the presence of strong female characters such as Oliver's (Amell) sister, Thea (Willa Holland), and Felicity (Emily Bett Rickards). Speaking with Blastr, "Arrow" executive producer and showrunner Wendy Mericle revealed that viewers will be seeing more of Thea, also known as Speedy, in the episodes to come.
"She will definitely be in and out of costume a few times this season, which I think is fun. It's a role [Willa Holland] knows how to play and those are skills she's not letting atrophy," the EP teased, adding, "You talk about Willa, and we think she's been amazing as Thea in the mayor's office. We really like her in that role." Given that Thea is Oliver's last surviving family member, Mericle adds that the character has a "certain level of gravity and emotional importance" that makes her a key player in the show.
The fifth season of "Arrow" returns to the small screen on Wednesday, Jan. 25, at 8 p.m. ET on The CW.