Olicity on ‘Arrow’: It was going to be Oliver and Felicity ‘no matter what’ — Stephen Amell
Sorry, Laurel Lance fans. “Arrow” was never going back to an Oliver/Laurel romance—not even if Laurel had lived.
According to star Stephen Amell, “In our show, it was Oliver and Felicity, and it was going to be them no matter what.”
Amell made the emphatic statement at Heroes & Villains Fan Fest in Portland on Saturday, Jan. 13, during a live question-and-answer session. A con attendee had asked if Laurel had lived, would she and Oliver have gotten back together. Amell’s response was a hard no.
That firmly shuts down claims made by some viewers that the only reason Oliver Jonas Queen married Felicity Megan Smoak was because his original love interest, Laurel Lance, died. Laurel, in her Black Canary persona, was skewered by villain Damien Darhk with an arrow back in Season 4 and later died from a blood clot.
Those claims, of course, ignore the fact that Oliver and Felicity became an item while Laurel was still very much alive. At the end of Season 3, Oliver had asked Felicity to go away with him, to help him find himself after his stint with the League of Assassins, all in full view of Laurel. During Season 4, Oliver proposed to Felicity during a Christmas tree-lighting ceremony in a park in front of family, friends and hundreds of supporters of his mayoral campaign. One of the people clapping and cheering the engagement was Laurel Lance.
Just before dying later in Season 4, Laurel admitted that she knows she’s not the love of Oliver’s life—that’s Felicity, y’all. She even told Oliver that she hopes he finds his way back to Felicity (they were broken up at that point).
According to Twitter posts from fans at the con, Amell did acknowledge that in the comic books, it was always Green Arrow and Black Canary. But he emphasized that on the TV show, “it was Oliver and Felicity, and it was going to be them no matter what.” This is not a surprise to those who’ve heard executive producers Marc Guggenheim and Greg Berlanti repeatedly state that the TV show follows its own path, that they are doing their own thing away from the comics.
Note that Amell never said it was Olicity right from the start, a misunderstanding that spread after earlier reports from comic book sites completely ignored the context of the actor’s definitive statement. “Arrow” began with a love triangle between Laurel, Oliver and his best friend, Tommy Merlyn.
But show runners abandoned that idea sometime in Season 1. Guggenheim, one of the show runners, was quoted in an April 2013 interview with The Huffington Post saying that love triangle needed to be played out before “Arrow” could turn to Olicity. Tommy was killed off at the end of Season 1 and his death prompted Oliver and Laurel to abandon attempts at a romantic relationship, essentially citing too much baggage between them.
“Arrow” returns Thursday, Jan. 18, with the aftermath of the new masks’ exit in “Divided.” If you’re a fan of the comics, Black Canary is currently kicking Green Arrow in the crotch (domestic violence?!) in Benjamin Percy’s the Green Arrow series from DC Comics.
