“Arrow” returns for Season 2, next Wednesday on The CW, and in a unique twist, the series will take Oliver Queen (Stephen Amell) back to Lian Yu – but not just in flashbacks.
A clip released this week confirmed that not only has Oliver headed back to the island he was stranded on for five years, but Diggle (David Ramsey) and Felicity (Emily Bett Rickards) have gone there looking for Starling City’s broken vigilante.
Up on the show’s set on Monday, Executive Producer Andrew Kreisberg hinted at how dark things are for Oliver, when the show kicks off October 9 at 8/7c on The CW.
PHOTOS: ‘Arrow’ Season 2 — On Set Pics From Inside Oliver Queen’s Secret Hideout
“[When] he starts out the season he doesn’t want to be the vigilante anymore and by the time he comes back, he doesn’t just pick up the bow again, he decides he wants to be a hero,” Kreisberg told a group of writers, when Warner Bros. flew AccessHollywood.com up to the Vancouver set and made us their guests.
“Last season was all about revenge and it was all very ‘Hamlet’-esque, sort of driven by the ghost of his father. … This season, he’s also driven by a ghost, but it’s the ghost of Tommy [Merlin] who died [in the Season 1 finale] not thinking the best of Oliver,” Kreisberg added. “So this season is less about sort of atoning for his father’s sins and [more about] honoring the kind of man he wanted to be for Tommy. … Last season had a very dark objective… crossing names off the list. … This season, he puts the book away and it’s really about being an example and being a symbol and he’s gonna discover that that’s not so easy.”
WATCH IT NOW: Stephen Amell & Robbie Amell Interview Each Other For Access — What Are Their Favorite Childhood Memories?
Kreisberg also shared details of the characters played by three actors who’ve joined the show in guest arcs, teased what’s next for Colton Haynes’ Roy Harper, and revealed new details about the highly anticipated introduction of Barry Allen, a young man who becomes a superhero known as The Flash (a character they hope to take to his own series).
On Summer Glau’s Killer Business Woman Character, Isabel Rochev: What’s interesting about Summer’s character, even though Isabel Rochev is a character from the comic books, she’s actually a nemesis of Oliver Queen’s far more than she’s a nemesis of the Arrow’s. One of the big story arcs this season is that the company that [Isabel] represents is trying to take over Queen Consolidated because Queen Consolidated took a massive PR hit, considering that they were the company that built the earthquake machine that killed 503 people [in the Season 1 finale]. So Oliver really has to step in and become the CEO. With [Isabel], there’ a lot of banter and jousting and sparks flying and anger and yelling and it’s sort of a fun, different dynamic than we’ve ever had on the show.
On How Oliver Feels About Roy Harper (Colton Haynes): He’s dismayed to discover that Roy Harper is hell bent on being his ally whether he wants [him] to be or not, which is a really fun arc for the season because Oliver has to go from not liking Roy at all, to seeing that he’s kind of a good influence on his sister, to, ‘Oh, crap. I’ve gotta keep my sister’s boyfriend alive.’ So that’s sort of fun for him.
On Having ‘Orphan Black’s’ ‘Hot Paul’ – Actor Dylan Bruce — Join Laurel Lance’s Story Arc: He’s plays Adam Donner, who is actually named after Richard Donner, the director of ‘Superman,’ … but as for his character, he’s an Assistant District Attorney; he’s a good guy, we hope, but he’s there as another foil for Laurel [played by Katie Cassidy]. Laurel’s joined the District Attorney’s Office this season, now that CNRI’s [City Necessary Resource Initiatives] been destroyed, and her mission at the top of the season is to bring down the Arrow. But Dylan’s great and he’s fun and funny and light.
PHOTOS: ‘Arrow’ The Journey Continues — Episodic Pics From Season 2
On Kevin Alejandro’s Character, Sebastian Blood: This season… one of the most interesting relationships [Oliver] has is with Kevin Alejandro who’s playing Sebastian Blood, who if you’re a fan of the comic you can probably guess where that’s heading. It’s another interesting relationship in that they start out as antagonists and start to form this relationship as friends and those are always the best villains to spring up. … There’s a lot of that this season. There’s a lot of betrayal and thing aren’t what they seem.
On Bringing In Grant Gustin As Barry Allen (Who Becomes The Flash): As we were writing these episodes, we cast Grant in the middle of it and it was interesting because Grant, just like Stephen, ironically, was the first person we saw say the lines. … It was funny because as each one of us — Geoff [Johns, DC Chief Creative Officer] and Greg [Berlanti, EP] and I were working on individual scenes or what not, we all sort of came together and said, ‘We’re all writing Grant.’ And it was just him, just in the same way that it was Stephen.
“Arrow” returns as part of Amell Wednesdays on October 9 at 8/7c on The CW, followed by the Season 1 premiere of Robbie Amell’s new show, “The Tomorrow People” at 9/8c.
Copyright © 2024 by NBC Universal, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
This material may not be republished, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.