Arrow fans finally found who Maya, also known as Blackstar, really is in the 2040 Star City timeline on The CW series. As many suspected, the formidable street fighter with an attitude turned out to be none other than Mia Smoak, daughter of Oliver Queen and Felicity Smoak.
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But while the reveal that Blackstar is the so-called “Olicity Baby” wasn’t a huge shock, her demeanor and situation was. Why would a child of Oliver and Felicity be so shut off, so defensive, and into fighting? According to Katherine McNamara, who plays Mia, how Mia gets to that point is something that the show will slowly reveal.
“You get to see a lot about why Mia is the way she is and what in her childhood and what events in her life up until this point have happened to form her into this hardened fighter, into this person that doesn’t deal with emotions, doesn’t deal with vulnerability well, and has really guarded herself,” McNamara told ET.
That explanation is something that fans will certainly be looking forward to as it gives them a bit more information of what’s going on in the future. A key component of this season has been the flash forwards that reveal a radically different Star City and Team Arrow in the future. With Mia being Oliver and Felicity’s child, she’s in a position to be a pivotal character in that future story and the significance of that — as well as the significance of playing the eagerly-anticipated child of a fan-favorite pairing — isn’t lost on McNamara.
“Extremely intimidating and incredibly wonderful as well,” McNamara said of what it’s been like to work with Stephen Amell (Oliver) and Emily Bett Rickard (Felicity). “When Beth first told me who I actually was she was like ‘intellectually we want her to have all the best qualities of Felicity but physically we want her to have all the qualities of Oliver’ so I’m going ‘so salmon ladder or the twelves pack or what do I need to do?’ Both Stephen and Emily have been so lovely and welcoming and so just helpful, I also watched the entire series trying to glean what I could because they’ve done such a wonderful job crafting these characters and I feel like it’s my job to carry them on.”
Fans will have a little bit to wait before they can find out just how McNamara’s Mia carries on, though. Arrow — as well as the majority of The CW’s programming — is on a brief hiatus through the rest of February and will return with new episodes in March.
Arrow airs Mondays at 8/7c on The CW.
