Arrow's Marc Guggenheim On The Social Media Firestorm From Tomorrow's Big Death

Saying that the Arrow writing staff has never made decisions because of (or in fear of) fan response on the Internet, showrunner Marc Guggenheim told a group of reporters yesterday that tomorrow's big death will shock and disappoint some fans, but that it was the move that would "give us the most pop going into the end of the season and into next season."

The episode, which airs on The CW at 8 p.m. tomorrow, will finally answer a question that's been hanging over the series since the season four premiere: who is in the grave that Oliver Queen and Barry Allen are visiting in a series of flash-forward sequences.

(No pun intended.)

And throughout the last few weeks, there have been a number of leaks -- the cost of shooting outdoors on a practical location, Guggenheim explained -- including photos of the actual grave taken by paparazzi weeks ago and then again last week. Most news outlets haven't picked up the images, but hardcore fans know where to look -- and many of them have been expressing their dissatisfaction -- loudly and often -- on Guggenheim's social media feeds.

"We've always you know, made know bones about the fact that we are telling our own version of the Green Arrow mythos," Guggenheim said. "Green Arrow has had so many different interpretations over the years that we never felt you know beholden to one particular interpretation, and this is our interpretation, like it or not, and I recognize that there are plenty of people up and down my Twitter feed who do not like it. Totally respect that."

While acknowledging that in a character-driven show, whatever character they chose to kill would have his or her own fan loyal fan base upset about the decision, Guggenheim said that "It's never been just about one or two different particular fan bases. We make the creative choices we feel benefit the show as a whole, and the story that we're telling overall."

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