When we last left Team Arrow, they were left reeling with the bombshell that Oliver Queen admitted to the world that he was in fact the Green Arrow, which found Oliver locked away in a Supermax and the team left wondering: What next?
In Oliver’s absence, Team Arrow is minus its titular leader, but his absence will allow other members to step up into leadership roles, including Felicity. Which shouldn’t come as a surprise, given that Felicity has been the understood leader of Team Arrow for years.
“I would presume so,” Rickards told us of becoming the de-facto leader of Team Arrow in Oliver’s absence, during a roundtable interview at San Diego Comic-Con. “She will. If she could call Iris for tips, that would be a really cool thing to do. I think that the two of them should work together more.”
If there’s one thing we want more of in the DCTV universe, it’s female friendships, as well as these characters acting like they know each other outside of the crossover once per season. So give us some Felicity and Iris bonding. Even if we can’t always have it on screen, build some phone conversations in. Not to mention both ladies now find themselves as mothers, and they could lean on each other for support. Seriously, more female friendships, please. Especially this one.
Speaking of motherhood, Felicity established herself as a maternal figure in Oliver’s son William’s life last season as she cultivated this sense of safety and belonging that, of course, William couldn’t resist. Felicity has that effect on the Queen men.
But now with Oliver in prison, Felicity is the only parent in William’s life, which is a huge responsibility.
“I do feel like she has stepped up to the role as a mother,” Rickards said. “But I think too as a friend because the kid isn’t so much a kid. He’s lost a lot, he’s grown up a lot. Every time we start to do scenes with him I’m like, ‘You’re older than we treat you in these scenes.’ He has to be older. He’s becoming an adult more rapidly than I think I became an adult and probably all did. That character suffered losses and hard to grow up quick.”
Watch our interview with Rickards and Kellum below, where they play two truths and a lie (the wrong way) and show off their organic chemistry.
Arrow season 7 premieres Monday, Oct. 15 at 8/7c on The CW.
