A lot of changes are being made at The CW next year, and updates about the future of various projects will continue to come in fast. Frustratingly, the potential show that fans are most interested in, Green Arrow and the Canaries, is yet to be either greenlit or officially passed on, but prospective star Katherine McNamara has stated that even if the latter comes to be, she isn’t ready to put Mia Smoak behind her.
Mia was first brought into the franchise in season 7 of Arrow in cutaway scenes set in 2040 that never properly meshed with the main narrative, with it transpiring that their purpose was to introduce the adult versions of Oliver and Felicity’s children ahead of their use in “Crisis on Infinite Earths.” Regarding her future as the character, McNamara had this to say:
“It’s been a while now. I have no idea what’s on the horizon for that, but I do know that I’m not done with Mia Smoak. As you know with that universe, people are brought back left, right, and center. I would love to go back and play in that world.”
She then added:
“I was really looking forward to seeing how Mia dealt with having this duality as a character; the fact that she had her post-Crisis future and her pre-Crisis future, and now she has the tools of both at her disposal. But also dealing with taking up her father’s mantle before she feels she’s ready, and before she feels as though she’s earned it. That would be an interesting journey.”
A backdoor pilot for the series aired as Arrow’s penultimate episode, where after the resolution of “Crisis,” Mia returns to Star City in 2040 and discovers that when Oliver rebooted the universe, it caused the dystopian hellhole she left behind to be wiped from existence, with her lost friends and family returned to her. A kidnapping then brings her into contact with Dinah Drake and Earth-2 Laurel Lance, who were displaced in time, forcing Mia to take up Oliver’s legacy and once again don the green cowl to keep the future safe from forces that would see the return of the previous reality’s nightmarish chaos.
2021 will feature a major overhaul of The CW’s lineup of superhero shows, with Supergirl and Black Lightning coming to an end, and spinoff Painkiller being developed alongside original series Wonder Girl and Naomi. Green Arrow and the Canaries would fit nicely alongside them, especially when driven by McNamara’s clear passion for playing Mia. But even if we’re denied it, we can only hope that she’ll get her wish and the character will somehow return.