Marc Guggenheim Hints At Plans For The BIRDS OF PREY And SUICIDE SQUAD On ARROW

You'll get your first glimpse of Black Canary in the premiere. Laurel needed a bit of a makeover. Last year, as a result of her job at CNRI and her relationship with Tommy, it sometimes felt like she was in a different show. One of our main goals this year was to really bring her into the fold in a way that made her an integral part of the stories we were telling. Black Canary's appearance is going to coincide with Laurel really struggling with a great number of things. We're throwing a lot of things at Laurel this year.

We have an idea for how to do our version of Birds of Prey. When you think about it, we have a lot of pieces. It's a lot like the Suicide Squad. As we continue to populate our world with new characters and some returning people from last year, you start to go, "We're really close to that!" We saw this awesome bit of production art for a new set that we realized plays into Birds of Prey completely. Our Art Department wasn't even intending that! There's certainly a momentum towards that, but everything has to happen in due time. With respect to Birds of Prey specifically, there's an actress that we particularly need to make that piece work and we need to check on her availability.

We introduced A.R.G.U.S. in Season 1. We also introduced Deadshot (Michael Rowe). We're thinking about how to expand the Arrow's Rogues Gallery, and Bronze Tiger (Michael Jai White) felt like he really fit into our world. We took a step back and realized that we were in spitting distance of the Suicide Squad. As with all things, we always have to be really careful not to let our geek selves drive everything. It has to be at the right pace for the show. We've got some really cool ideas for how to bring Deadshot back into the show. You're going to see that around Episode 6. We're hoping to get some new viewers in Season 2, so we want to repopulate our world. The hope is that we're moving in the right direction towards the Suicide Squad. Right now, we're taking it on a person-by-person basis. We have Deadshot as the leader of the Suicide Squad. We don't have any definitive plans to bring them all together. But, as always with these things, we see what people like and don't like.

Roy has not given up his night job of going out and looking for trouble. He actually connects with the Arrow very early on in the season, who sets him on a new mission. When we find Roy in the first episode, he's floundering a little bit. He's trying to find his way and he really gets his purpose set for him, which is exciting. He and Thea (Willa Holland) are still dating. For everybody who found themselves in a bad place after the events last season, Thea is actually in a really good place. She's running the nightclub. Roy is working as a busboy at the club and she says to him, "I control both your paycheck and your sex life." Thea has really grown up during these five months. No more Catholic School girl outfits for her.