The genesis of the Arrowverse started with Arrow in 2012 and ended early last year. However, in order to keep the spirit of the series alive, a backdoor pilot was filmed titled “Green Arrow and the Canaries”, which was the ninth episode of the final season. The episode was set in 2040, and centered around Mia Queen, Dinah Drake, and Laurel Lance fighting against newly-emerged crime in Star City as the newest incarnation of Green Arrow and the Black Canaries respectively. For months after its release, many fans were wondering whether the pilot would be picked up for a whole series, and now we have the unfortunate results of this attempt to keep Arrow alive.

Yesterday, The CW has officially confirmed that they are not moving forward with Green Arrow and the Canaries. Marc Guggenheim, the showrunner of Arrow, revealed on Twitter that the decision not to move forward with the spin-off was made back in early 2020. Guggenheim also cited that the pandemic was possibly "the deciding factor” in the series not being picked up by The CW. 

By the end of “Green Arrow and the Canaries”, many new, exciting questions that were raised by the backdoor pilot will unfortunately won't be answered now that it isn't going to become a series. Examples include how Dinah Drake in 2020 got to the future after she was last seen on a motorcycle heading to Metropolis in the series finale of Arrow. Another prime example includes who kidnapped William in the backdoor pilot, and why the villain in Deathstroke’s iconic mask had a mysterious tattoo that matched the etchings of the Queen family's hōzen. 

While this news is unfortunate, the Arrowverse will continue to live on in a variety of fashions. Not only will shows like The Flash, Supergirl, Legends of Tomorrow, and Batwoman get new seasons, but new shows will be debuting in the near future as well. These intriguing projects like Superman and Lois, Wonder Girl, and Ava DuVernay’s Naomi will keep this lucrative, expansive television universe running for many years. However, many will continue to wonder what could’ve been had we seen Green Arrow and the Canaries come into full fruition. 

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