‘Shadowhunters’ Star Katherine McNamara Cast in Major ‘Arrow’ Role

Shadowhunters star Katherine McNamara has been cast in the role of Maya, a “pivotal” recurring role on Arrow‘s upcoming seventh season, according to TVLine.

According to the report, the character’s casting notice drew comparisons to Buffy the Vampire Slayer. McNamara will play “a scrappy street fighter and thief from Star City.”

She could be the long-rumored female character that fans have expected to join the cast in place of Thea Queen, who left town after longtime series regular Willa Holland left the series last season.

“Superhero slayer” sounds like it could be a villainous role, but given the description as “scrappy,” it sounds more like she is playing good (or at least decent and misguided) and young.

McNamara is another high-profile actor coming to Arrow, following the return of Colton Haynes as Roy Harper. The guests might help flesh out Star City during a time when Oliver Queen (Stephen Amell) himself is in prison.

Recently released photos from the show’s Season 7 premiere, “Inmate 4587”, reveal Felicity sporting bright pink hair and various fake piercings. She’s also seen with a few injuries and a recent promo showed her fighting someone off using a pan of pasta sauce. The idea of Felicity having to deal with new challenges is something that Rickards herself has spoken about before in an interview earlier this year, but Schwartz also indicated that it isn’t just Felicity changing in order to survive. Oliver will find himself making some “questionable” choices while behind bars.

“I think the cool part of him being in prison is that having a hearo be in prison is very challenging, especially for Oliver,” showrunner Beth Schwartz recently said. “Just being able to survive prison, similar to when he was on Lian-Yu, he has to make some questionable choices to survive. We sort of wanted to write to the real of what that situation would look like if he was locked up with a bunch of previous villains that he’d previously put in there, and they’re now on the same playing field. There’s so much conflict there. He can’t do things the way he did then as the Green Arrow. The rules are different in prison.”

But, for all of the changes there will be some things that are at least familiar. Schwartz said that when Colton Hayne’s Roy Harper returns, he’ll be the same character fans remember despite everything that’s happened.

“He’ll be the same Roy that we love,” Schwartz said. “Last time we saw him, he went off with Thea, so a lot has happened since then, and he’ll be affected by what happened when he left when he returns.”

Are you getting excited for Arrow‘s seventh season? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

The season seven premiere of Arrow, which is titled “Inmate 4587”, will debut on Monday, October 15th at 9/7c on The CW.