Arrow Interview: EP Marc Guggenheim On Ray Palmer, Olicity & “Sara”

Yesterday at the CW’s Summer 2014 TCA Party, we spoke with Arrow Executive Producer Marc Guggenheim for a little bit to try and get some intel on Season 3. For starters, there was that Season 3 description which had some ominous tidbits for fans of “Olicity” – people who want Oliver and Felicity together. Should we worry about “shipper-baiting?”

“You know, it’s funny. I actually don’t know what shipper-baiting is,” Guggenheim admitted. “I will tell you, he does ask her out on a date. That is going to happen. I don’t know what to say beyond that, except that we’re really acknowledging the chemistry between the two characters and the attraction between the two characters, and we’re moving forward with their dance, that they’ve basically been doing since episode 3 of the show. From the moment they met each other, there was something going on, and we’re just honoring that,” he explained.

The other big news for Season 3 is the casting of former Superman Brandon Routh as Ray Palmer, the hero known to comic book fans as The Atom. Guggenheim was quick to point out that the “Ray and Jean” reference from Season 1 was “just a fun Easter egg” and wasn’t necessarily meant to represent Ray. However, he did acknowledge the “Jean Loring” that we saw on Arrow last year, as Moira’s attorney.

“I’ll tell you this: Jean Loring has already been on the show, and if he was involved with that Jean, there would be a bit of an age difference,” he said, before adding that it will be addressed. “We will be acknowledging the Jean Loring that appeared in the beginning of Season 2 as Moira’s attorney, in the context of Ray Palmer, just not as boyfriend and girlfriend,” he said.

On the subject of Easter eggs, Ivy University is name-checked on the NBC pilot Constantine, which makes us wonder if this Ray Palmer is involved with Ivy University as well.  “I would keep watching,” he told us about whether or not we’ll see Ivy on Arrow, but as for matching Constantine’s shout out, it won’t be connected to that. “When we do our Easter eggs, they’re never in conjunction with other DC Easter eggs,” he admitted, pointing out that Arrow is “just in the Flash universe.”

Moving back to Ray Palmer, Guggenheim sayid that the casting of Brandon Routh was “completely beyond cool, in so many ways.”

“First of all, I was excited when we came in and just met with him. And then, he did a chemistry read with Emily [Bett Rickards], and they were just so magical together. And then, I got to see him on set, and that was a completely different gear. I was already thrilled. I could not be happier. He is such a lovely guy; he meshes in with the cast, already, so well. He’s a wonderful addition,” he said.

Finally, we asked Guggenheim about the title of the second episode of Arrow Season 3, which is “Sara.” What does that mean, exactly?

“Sara looms very large in the episode, but that name may have a double meaning,” he teased.

Arrow returns October 8 on The CW.