Warner Bros. has announced that Beth Schwartz will be taking over showrunner duties on Arrow in season 7, replacing longtime Arrowverse shepherd, Marc Guggenheim! Schwartz has been with Arrow since starting as a writer’s assistant in season 1, having served as co-executive producer on the current season 6.
Videos by ComicBook.com
In an official announcement released by Warner Bros. Television, we learned that Schwartz has been upgraded to full EP and showrunner position for season 7, while Guggenheim (who serves as EP and co-showrunner) will be sliding into an Executive Consultant role for both Arrow season 7 and Legends of Tomorrow season 4. Phil Klemmer will take over showrunning duties for Legends.
The other big Arrowverse EP, Greg Berlanti, had the following statement to offer on this changing of the guard:
“We are all so incredibly thrilled to announce Beth Schwartz as the new showrunner of Arrow. She has been a source of some of the show’s most exciting and memorable moments from the beginning. Beth is a true leader and a captivating storyteller, and we all can’t wait for the audience to see what she and her team dream up as they take Arrow into its next big chapter.”
Arrow has remained a point of debate among DC fans, with some loving the ‘return to form’ simplicity of season 5’s Prometheus storyline, while others criticize the show for never getting back to the heights of its season 2 storyline with Slade Wilson / Deathstroke. There’s almost universal disdain for the magic-influenced ‘Olicity’ stain of season 4 – and it seems season 6 is similarly on the bubble of being one of the show’s least-loved installments.
That’s all to say: an injection of some new blood (and especially a female showunner’s perspective) may be just what Arrow needs to continue on strong.
Right now, “Team Arrow” is no more, as Oliver Queen (Stephen Amell) has lost nearly all of his friends and connections as both vigilante hero and mayor, thanks to insidious scheming of gangster Ricardo Diaz (Kirk Acevedo). While we wait to see if/how Oliver finally outmaneuvers Diaz, it remains to be seen if season 7 will see Team Arrow restored, or Oliver back out on his own in full “Hood Mode” as was teased in the latest episode (at the time of writing this).
Arrow now airs Thursdays @ 9/8c on The CW.
