Green Arrow And The Canaries: 7 Things That Must Happen
How can the Arrow spin-off succeed?
Arrow may be about to depart our screens forever but it won't be going to the great TV beyond without leaving another little piece of its ever-growing legacy behind. Yes, the show that has already spawned four live-action spin-off shows in The Flash, DC's Legends of Tomorrow, Supergirl and Batwoman is hoping to create one more before its conclusion - one that is more closely linked to it than any of the others. That show is none other than Green Arrow and The Canaries.
Starring Arrow's own leading lady Katie Cassidy, Juliana Harkavy and Katherine McNamara, the potential series will see all three of them reprise their roles as Laurel Lance/Black Canary, Dinah Drake/Black Canary and Mia Smoak respectively. Moreover, it will debut as a backdoor pilot on the penultimate episode of Arrow's final season, with The CW then hopefully ordering it to series soon afterwards.
With all of that mind, Green Arrow and The Canaries has the potential to be the best Arrowverse show on the air, but in order to achieve those great heights and carry on the success of its parent show, there are certain things that must happen... and perhaps more importantly, certain pitfalls it must avoid.
7. The Series Is Set In The Present Day
When it was announced that Mia Smoak would be joining Laurel Lance and Dinah Drake in their spin-off series, we all found ourselves wondering what time period the show would be set in. After all, the Canaries were kicking ass in the present day while Mia was doing it all the way in 2040.
Of the two options, 2040 seemed the most likely because the badass child of Oliver Queen and Felicity Smoak has crossed paths with both Black Canaries during her time. However, given the year, both of them were naturally much older.
According to the official synopsis for the backdoor pilot (also titled 'Green Arrow and The Canaries'), the team's first outing will indeed take place in the future, but it appears that things will be different as the character - now named Mia Queen - will be living the life she always wanted when Laurel and Dinah turn up.
It's likely that the pair have time-traveled to the future in order to meet her and that they aren't, in fact, the aged iterations. That being said, it's imperative that they return to the present for the remainder of the series because if 2040 really has changed as the result of the Crisis, it's lost its appeal altogether.
Why set a show with all the promise to be gritty and compelling in a perfect world that is the complete opposite of the dark and gritty future Star City we already knew? Moreover, doing so also robs the show of chances to cross over with any of the others - bar Legends - and puts them under pressure to ensure that their continuity lines up with the other present-day shows.
With that in mind, it would make more sense to simply set it in the present-day after the Crisis.