To promote the return of Arrow this Wednesday with Suicide Squad, Executive Producer Marc Guggenheim today participated in a Q&A session where he talked about many subjects, including the notion of so many characters learning Oliver Queens secret. With Diggle, Felicity, Sara and now Roy knowing about Olivers alter ego, could that list of people in the know keep growing?
I would say its going to go up before the end of the year, Guggenheim answered when a reporter asked him about the growing list. By the finale, more people will know than currently do.
Its funny, [and] we talk about this a lot in the writers room: Are there too many characters who know, and does it diminish the secret identity? Where we have come from is the philosophy that when people know when members of our cast of characters know it draws them into Olivers world, and it draws them into the show more, so we tend to get more story out of people knowing than people not knowing. You could say well, too many people know, but the truth is, we use the Dark Knight Trilogy as our north star or compass, and a lot of people knew, particularly by the third movie, that Bruce Wayne was the Batman, and it doesnt diminish my enjoyment of watching those stories unfold, he explained.
Obviously, different philosophies, different points of view, he continued. I wrote that line in Episode 12 about how many people know? Too many people, really, as a nod to the fans who have been complaining ever since episode 16 of last year, when we told Tommy, as a nod to those fans who do feel like its too many, he recalled. But for us, as writers: We always go towards whatever gives us more story and more interesting story, and for now at least, certain people knowing is more interesting than certain people not knowing.
On that note, Quentin Lance (Paul Blackthornes character) was a detective
yet all this time around the Arrow, and now seeing his own daughter palling around with the Arrow when Oliver is nowhere to be seen: Shouldnt that be a hint? Whats going on there?
I will say, Episode 19 pretty definitively, I think, answers that question, as far as Lance is concerned. And the answer to that, I think, will surprise you. Its not something that you would expect, Guggenheim teased.
A new episode of Arrow titled Suicide Squad airs Wednesday night, March 19 on The CW.
