The “Arrow” spinoff potential over the Canaries is officially dead on the CW, Variety Learned.
Plans for the show were first announced in September 2019, six months after it was announced that “Arrow” would end after its eighth season. A backdoor pilot aired in January 2020 as part of the 8th season of “Arrow”, entitled “Green Arrow & The Canaries”. The episode took place two decades after the end of the original show and starred Katherine McNamara as Mia Smoak, Katie Cassidy as Laurel Lance and Juliana Harkavy as Dinah Drake.
Cassidy started with “Arrow” on the show’s pilot, although she died in season 4 before returning in season 6. McNamara joined “Arrow” in the seventh season. Harkavy has been with “Arrow” since season 5 and has also appeared on several shows verses for “Arrow”.
Greg Berlanti, Sarah Schechter, Beth Schwartz, Marc Guggenheim, Jill Blankenship and Oscar Balderrama were all executive producers on the project, with Schwartz, Guggenheim, Blankenship and Balderrama co-writing the episode. Berlanti Productions produced in association with Warner Bros. Television.
But DC fans need not worry, as there are a number of new superhero programs underway on the CW. Among them is a series “Wonder Girl” and another based on the character of DC Naomi. Blankenship is co-writing the “Naomi” project with Ava DuVernay. The network is also preparing a “Black Lightning” spinoff built around the character “Painkiller”, who will have his own backdoor pilot during the fourth and final season of “Black Lightning”.
The CW has had great success with its formation of superheroes, which currently includes “The Flash”, “Supergirl”, “Legends of Tomorrow”, “Batwoman” and the next “Superman & Lois.