Will The CW Launch a Felicity Spinoff Show After Arrow Ends?

Earlier this month, The CW announced that Arrow's upcoming eighth season set to air this fall will be the series' last. The DC Comics inspired series which is currently airing its seventh season on the network will return for 10 final episodes. The news surprised fans, but in the weeks since the announcement as the reality of Arrow's end has settled in, so has the speculation that The CW might be considering spinoffs of the show -- including one focused on Felicity Smoak.

Felicity, played by Emily Bett Rickards, has been a fan-favorite since Arrow's first season. Initially planned for a one episode appearance on the show, the character was upped to recurring status for the first season and then has been a series regular ever since. While the character has been appreciated by fans for her own extraordinary technological skills and quirky personality, she's also become beloved as Oliver Queen's (Stephen Amell) love interest. The pair eventually married in Season 6 with Felicity stepping up as stepmother to Oliver's son, William and, in recent episodes of Season 7, it's been revealed that they go on to have a child together -- Mia.

But Felicity's relationship with Oliver is only one facet of the character and its Felicity outside of the "Olicity" pairing that has some wondering if The CW could launch a Felicity-centered spinoff after Arrow ends. Now, to be fair, there has been no real indication that such a series is even being considered and after eight years in the role, it's entirely possible that Rickards -- as well as other members of the show's cast -- may be looking forward to an opportunity to pursue other projects. However, if a Felicity show were to even be a remote consideration, Arrow's Season 7 has certainly set the groundwork.

In tonight's episode, "Inheritance", the series finally made good on something that has long been teased to be part of Felicity's future -- Smoak Technologies. Audiences have seen hints about the corporation a number of times over the years, but tonight its creation was definitively set. Having created the Archer program, Felicity reached out to her friend Alena (formerly of the hacktivist group Helix) to work for her as Chief Technology Officer of the company, as growing Archer is enough that Felicity needs the help.

We know that the company exists in the future, too. "Star City 2040" makes references to Felicity running the company nearly twenty years in the future, though after her apparent death the company was shown to be in ruins and no longer operating. As it was revealed that Felicity was, in fact, alive having only become the criminal "The Calculator" as a way to attempt to stop the destruction of Star City in a bombing as well as prevent her creation, Archer, from being misused on a global scale. It's also revealed that, in the years between 2019 and 2040, Felicity has continued her heroics as Overwatch in a very behind-the-scenes way, something that when Mia finds out, prompts her to leave home for Star City herself.

With so many things clearly having happened between the present and "Star City 2040" and with Oliver apparently not in the picture -- possibly because he dies in "Crisis on Infinite Earths" -- if The CW were to consider a Felicity spinoff, there's plenty of material to work with. Plenty of material, that is, provided the show doesn't explore some of that in the remainder of Season 7 and in the final 10 episodes that comprise Season 8.

Arrow airs Mondays at 9/8c on The CW.