'Green Arrow and the Canaries' to be set in 2040, prompting another time-travel headache for 'Arrow' fans everywhere

The spinoff's backdoor pilot will be the feature of the penultimate episode of 'Arrow' and will not include Oliver Queen

The future of 'Green Arrow and the Canaries' may be uncertain, but that it IS the future has just been confirmed: Marc Guggenheim, showrunner and co-creator of 'Arrow' has tweeted that the spinoff series will be set in the future, puzzling many fans who assumed Mia Smoak (Katherine McNamara) would be staying in the present. 

Marc Guggenheim tweeted the statement in response to a fan who was worried that Oliver Queen would not be appearing in Season 8's penultimate episode.

He reassured the fan that as the episode would be set in 2040 — and that Oliver's already been confirmed dead in that timeline — he would not need to appear in that particular episode.

It will not affect his post-Crisis appearance in the series finale of 'Arrow'. It would appear that the episode titled 'Green Arrow and the Canaries' will not be affected by what happens in the 'Crisis on Infinite Earths' either. 

Fans are left confused as to whether both Canaries — Laurel Lance (Katie Cassidy) and Dinah Drake (Juliana Harkavy) — will be aged up in 2040, or travel in time to join Mia Smoak in the future.

Considering the fact that the third Canary, Sarah Lance (Caity Lotz) has access to a time ship, the latter option certainly isn't a difficult one.

Marc Guggenheim has previously revealed that other characters from 'Arrow' will also be appearing on the show, but with the show's time period setting confirmed, it's anyone's guess as to who will be time-traveling, who will be aged up, and who, if comic book plotlines are anything to go by, will be resurrected, de-aged, cloned, from an alternate universe or temporarily removed from reality. 

'Arrow' will conclude this season following the 'Crisis on Infinite Earths' CW crossover. The next episode of 'Arrow' airs on November 19 on The CW.

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