Agent Coulson was stabbed through the heart, and yet leads theAgents of S.H.I.E.L.D.over on ABC.
Can you even do that?
I do feel like weve done it.
Credit: The CW
That said, youre right, we havent killed off on any of the shows a superhero yet.
Weve killed off plenty of other people.
Are you even allowed to do that?
Or is there a conversation that needs to be had where you show why ithas tohappen?
No, I dont think so.
Again, one can always distinguish by saying, She wasnt a series regular, so that doesnt count.
Theres no like we have to go to DC and get permission.
DC is our partner in all this and we casually keep them updated on all the storylines.
They are aware of all of our plans.
Sometimes it includes a character death and other times its a plot twist or plot development.
Theyre just in our process and aware of it.
I can say that never, at any point, has DC said, Dont do that.
They never said, Dont kill off this character or dont do this plot twist.
Lets say we decided to kill off Arsenal last year, I dont think it wouldve been an issue.
Oh yeah, 100 percent.
It was 1,000 percent we dont want to take this character off the table for us.
Is there an argument to be made that comic heroes should be immortal?
Any longtime comic book fan knows that death in comic books nowadays is pretty meaningless.
Eventually, by hook or by crook, that character is coming back.
Right now, in the Marvel universe, Wolverine is dead.
Thats just a given.
Im not spoiling anything and Im not revealing any secrets, thats just the reality.
So, thats comic books.
You know its not such an easy thing for them to return.
I think death has much more currency in these TV shows than it does in comics.
All that being said, I dont believe that superheroes shouldnt die.
They are living myths, but I like the fact that theyremortalmyths.
Im a big believer in it when the death actually matters.
Its harder in actual comic books where you’ve got the option to always bring characters back.
That said, killing off a character in comics, that can make for a great story.
Hopefully the audience knows that everyone is up for grabs.
The only one whos probably not up for grabs onArrowis Oliver Queen, but everyone else is fair game.
We internally refer to that as the story math.
Thats something that we always consider.
Its what narrative possibilities, what story possibilities does the death open up?
What I find fascinating is you guys showcased the grave at the beginning of the season.
Did you have abig pool of peopleand then narrowed it down as you went?
And why did you decide to go that route?
Because that potential death would keep people coming back?
Anyone who has watched the previous three seasons ofArrowknows that someone is likely to die in season 4.
The big surprise would be, in season 5, if we didnt kill anybody.
Do you feel like the possibility of being killed off keeps actors in line?
Or does that just not work anymore given that people dont feel death is permanent?
No, its not that actually.
Because, again, death is permanent from a contractual basis.
If you kill off a character, that actor is malfunctioning on the show on a regular basis.
That said, I can tell you it actually doesnt change the casts behavior.
Are TV shows taking a more superhero comic book approach to non-comic book shows?
But there are many other non-genre shows, those were just at the top of my head.
In many respects, I think comic books have almost taken their cue from soap operas and television dramas.
Oh, faking someones death.
Thats why we did it onArrowlast year.Walking Deaddid it this year.Game of Thronesis going to do it next year.
How do we do stuff that no one else has done before?
Like I said, we killed Canary onArrowbefore we killed Hawkman onLegends.
How are we always at the tip of the spear?
Arrowairs Wednesdays at 8 p.m.
ET on The CW.
