ARROW: Andrew Kreisberg on the Evolution of Summer Glau’s Isabel

Summer Glau may be best known for her kick-ass roles on shows like TERMINATOR: THE SARAH CONNOR CHRONICLES, but when she landed the role of Isabel Rochev on ARROW, the writers weren’t entirely sure if they would be writing to those strengths.

“It’s funny, because when Summer took the part, I was up there on set with her, and she was like, ‘I’ve never done anything like this. I feel much better if I’m kicking somebody,'” ARROW executive producer Andrew Kreisberg told reporters last week. ” And I’m just like, ‘You’re so good. You should give yourself more credit. We wanted you because you’re such a good actress and you feel amazing in this part. Not because you can kick ass.’ And then [later] I got to call her and say, ‘Hey, we changed our minds. You get to kick ass.’ But in 18, when she does, it’s like, ‘Oh yeah.'”

And now that Slade revived Isabel at the end of the last episode with what Kreisberg has dubbed “the evil juice,” Glau’s Isabel will become Ravager, a character who originally introduced in the DC Universe. (Though ARROW is putting its own twist on the character.)

“Isabel was the one thing we weren’t entirely sure about as we were developing the season,” Kreisberg admitted. “Truthfully, there was a very early iteration of the series where Sara (Caity Lotz) started the season as Ravager and then switched over…Part of the reason Isabel disappeared for a while was because we didn’t know which way to go, whether she should be an ally or a villain. And we…had written it so it could turn out either way. It just, as we were coming down, the scene that I was picturing was Isabel, Slade, and Sebastian in Oliver’s office — the triumvirate of evil. Once that happened, there was no way she was not going to be Ravager.”

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Are you excited to see what Glau will do as Ravager? And don’t forget, there’s a brand new episode of ARROW tonight at 8 PM on The CW.

Related:

ARROW Post-Mortem: Andrew Kreisberg on Laurel’s Decision, the Future of Laurel and Oliver, and More
ARROW: Andrew Kreisberg on Laurel’s New Insight into Oliver
ARROW: Marc Guggenheim on Slade vs. Oliver, Thea, and More

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