There's a Clash Between Arrow and Suicide Squad

So much for harmony in the extended universe of DC Comics. A star of the CW's Arrow has lashed out at the way the DC characters are being handled as they bridge the gap between DC-based TV series like her own and the big-screen versions of the DC universe.

Willa Holland, who plays Thea Queen/Speedy on Arrow, told an audience at the MCM London Comic-Con last week that she and her castmates have been frustrated by the limitations placed on their series by DC movies, specifically the upcoming Suicide Squad and Justice League Part One films.

The creators of Arrow had begun introducing characters from the Suicide Squad comics, including Deadshot and Harley Quinn, back in the series' season two, but Holland says that when plans for the Suicide Squad feature film got underway, the series was forced to axe the characters from the show to avoid conflict with the movie.

A bigger problem comes with the titular star of Arrow, along with the central character of spinoff series The Flash. Both characters could be included in the upcoming Justice League films, and Holland says that initially Stephen Arnell, who plays Green Arrow, and Grant Gustin, who plays the Flash, expected to be cast in the films. Instead, Warner Bros. has opted to leave Green Arrow out of the first film and to cast another actor, Ezra Miller, to play the Flash.

Holland thinks that DC should look to Marvel for a model of how to mesh TV and film into a seamless fictional universe. While connections between Marvel TV and film properties are often slight and vague, they at least don't contradict one another. Imagine another actor playing Captain America on Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. while Chris Evans continues to play the character on the big screen.