On Friday, Arrowverse fans learned that Green Arrow and the Canaries I wouldn’t be making headway on The CW (with no official word on whether the streaming service HBO Max could be a viable alternative, as it might be for The 100 spinoff pilot). Now, co-star of the series Katherine McNamara pilot writers Beth Schwartz and Marc Guggenheim are exposing their ideas about the decision on social media.
First, here’s a retrospective of what McNamara posted at the time the news was officially announced, followed by today’s post on Instagram where McNamara thanks fans, his castmates, friends and more who helped her to along the way she turned Mia into a complete character that viewers could connect with. Along with that, a brief and sincere tweet from Schwartz expressing his love and gratitude for everyone involved in the project.
Needless to say, my heart is broken … I would have loved to travel with #MiaSmoak. Thank you all for your love and support. #GreenArrowandtheCanaries #OlicityBaby #Green arrow @TheCW 🖤🏹💚 https://t.co/nGg66pd9Pt pic.twitter.com/5ZIlOpqFvq
– Katherine McNamara (@Kat_McNamara) January 8, 2021
I loved these girls and everyone involved! https://t.co/b4wSBM8ega
– Beth Schwartz (@SchwartzApprovd) January 8, 2021
In his first post, Guggenheim co-signs a feeling of love and appreciation for McNamara, Katie Cassidyand Juliana HarkavyArrowverse’s hard work and dedication over the years. Then Guggenheim clarified that the decision not to move forward with the series “was made during the start of the pandemic”, although the announcement was not made until Friday – with Guggenheim believing it was the pandemic that could have been the “deciding factor”:
Co-signed. https://t.co/Tukai2WgTQ
– Marc Guggenheim (@mguggenheim) January 8, 2021
In fact, the decision was made during the beginning of the pandemic (which, I believe, was the deciding factor). The actual announcement was made today. https://t.co/WROzA2COdG
– Marc Guggenheim (@mguggenheim) January 8, 2021
In September 2019, The CW announced it was moving forward with another Emerald Archer spinoff (remember The Flash?), focusing on McNamara’s Mia Queen, as well as Canaries Laurel Lance (Cassidy) and Dinah Drake (Harkavy). Together, they form Green Arrow and the Canaries. Before the Stephen amellfacing Arrow dragged out of the network’s deadly programming coil, a backdoor pilot entitled “Green Arrow and the Canaries” aired as an episode of the regular season. Set in Star City in 2040, the episode finds Mia with everything she has ever wanted. But when Laurel and Dinah suddenly appeared in her life again, things took a shocking turn, and their “perfect world” would never be the same. Written by Arrow showrunner Schwartz and co-creator / executive producer Guggenheim, executive producer Jill Blankenship, and executive co-producer Oscar Balderrama, the episode was directed by Tara Miele. Berlanti Productions and Warner Bros Television are producing the project.
In April 2020, Schwartz spoke to ET about the pilot and revealed one of the subjects (and characters) that she wants to focus on if a series order happens: “Since we’re still working on a spinoff and we’re talking about these things, Dinah Drake’s past [is something I’d like to focus on]. We had so many stories about his family and what his life was like before. We had a great story with her and [her late boyfriend] Vinny, but there was a lot more to her character, so in the back pilot, she talks about getting married [young] and she is a singer. There were all these things [about her we didn’t know]. And Laurel said, ‘Who are you?’ Because it was a kind of joke that we made between us, because we talked about all these stories and we just didn’t have a chance to tell them. “