Original Team Arrow is losing one of its founding members as Emily Bett Rickards, who plays Felicity Smoak, has somewhat shockingly announced that she will be exiting the series after the currently ongoing seventh season.
Entertainment Weekly has since confirmed the news and have shared the following statement from executive producers Greg Berlanti and Beth Schwartz, “
We’ve had the pleasure of working with Emily since season one and in those past seven years she has brought one of TV’s most beloved characters to life. And although we’re heartbroken to see both Emily and Felicity leave the show, we’re completely supportive of Emily and her future endeavors. She will always have a family at Arrow.”
At this moment in time, it doesn't look like Rickards will appear in any capacity during the coming eighth and final season, but considering her character was recently revealed to still be alive in the year 2040, it doesn't seem out of the realm of possibility that she could maybe appear again before the series comes to a close.
Rickards will end her run as the third-longest tenured member of the cast, having featured in 154 episodes when Season 7 concludes.
With Rickards out of the picture, the current Season 8 cast will presumably feature Stephen Amell, David Ramsey, Katie Cassidy, Rick Gonzalez, Juliana Harkavy, Colton Haynes, Audrey Marie Anderson, and Sea Shimooka.
After a violent shipwreck, billionaire playboy Oliver Queen was missing and presumed dead for five years before being discovered alive on a remote island in the North China Sea. He returned home to Star City, bent on righting the wrongs done by his family and fighting injustice. As the Green Arrow, he protects his city with the help of former soldier John Diggle, computer-science expert Felicity Smoak, former protégé Roy Harper, brilliant inventor Curtis Holt, street-savvy Rene Ramirez and meta-human Dinah Drake. Oliver will find himself vulnerable in a way unlike ever before when a mysterious new enemy begins to unravel his work as Green Arrow, forcing him to redeem his name or risk losing everything.
Arrow features:
Stephen Amell as Oliver Queen/Green Arrow
Katie Cassidy as Laurel Lance/Black Siren
David Ramsey as John Diggle/Spartan
Emily Bett Rickards as Felicity Smoak
Echo Kellum as Curtis Holt/Mr. Terrific
Rick Gonzalez as Rene Ramirez/Wild Dog
Juliana Harkavy as Dinah Drake/Black Canary
Colton Haynes as Roy Harper/Arsenal
Audrey Marie Anderson as Lyla Michaels
Kirk Acevedo as Ricardo Diaz/Richard Dragon
Sea Shimooka as Emiko Queen
Arrow returns with an all-new episode April 15