‘Arrow’ Cast Starting On Season 7, Photo Released

As July gets underway, fall TV heads back into production — especially The CW’s superhero shows, which all tend to resume right around the same time.

Hours ago, the official Twitter account for the Arrow writers’ room shared a photo from the season seven premiere table read, which featured series stars Stephen Amell (who plays Oliver Queen/Green Arrow), Emily Bett Rickards (Felicity Smoak), David Ramsey (John Diggle), and Echo Kellum (Curtis Holt).

Fans will likely get their first look at the characters in action at Comic Con International in San Diego later this month; typically most of the shows that present there bring a sizzle reel, and beginning production this week means that the season premiere will likely be fully shot and into editing by the time the sizzle reel needs to be completed.

On Monday, though, Amell has teased that there will be “an announcement” coming. It is not yet clear whether his announcement will pertain to Arrow, his winery, or something else altogether, but given the timing it seems not entirely unlikely that he could be helping The CW to make a casting announcement for season seven.

None of the season’s villains, other than Ricardo Diaz (Kirk Acevedeo), have yet been named, so a potential partner for Diaz could be a solid prediction for such an announcement. Another possibility? The casting of Batwoman, whose character will appear in the inter-show crossover planned for late November/early December.

You can see the writers’ tweet containing the table read photo below.

Arrow season seven launches with Oliver Queen in prison, serving a life sentence for crimes he committed while in the Green Arrow identity. Headed to Slabside Supermax, it seems likely that at least part of the season will serve as a loose adaptation of Supermax, the never-produced Green Arrow movie that would have seen him enlist the aid of supervillains in an attempt to break out of a Super Max prison after being convicted of crimes he did not commit.

A breakout seems unlikely to help Oliver in the long run — after all, he has a wife and child who would need to go on the run with him — but there are other possibilities that fans have already predicted, such as service to ARGUS or a Presidential pardon, which could free him up.

Arrow will return on Monday, October 15th at 8 p.m. ET/PT on The CW.