ARROW and THE FLASH at TCA: Live-Blog

ARROW and THE FLASH have been making a splash at TCA, and The CW is hosting a panel to celebrate both shows’ heroes and villains. Follow along to hear what Stephen Amell, Grant Gustin, Katie Cassidy, John Barrowman, Colton Haynes, David Ramsey, Tom Cavanagh, Brandon Routh, Wentworth Miller, Dominic Purcell, Robbie Amell, Victor Garber, Matt Nable, and executive producers Greg Berlanti, Andrew Kreisberg, and Marc Guggenheim have to say…

11:20 AM: How did the crossover go? Gustin says that it was fairly early in THE FLASH run, but it worked out well. Amell says that the scripts were great, and now that they’ve done it, future episodes will be even bigger.

11:22 AM: “Quite frankly, I feel like I earned my spot here,” Amell jokes about being here despite Oliver “dying.” He knew that Oliver would be losing the fight early on into the production of the season, and he says he loves giving other people the chance to shoulder the show. “I’m excited for everyone’s opportunity,” Amell says.

11:23 AM: Why so many superhero shows? “Because geek rules the world,” Barrowman quickly replies.

11:25 AM: “Every episode that comes along, we’re basically reinventing the wheel,” Kreisberg says of THE FLASH’s effects. He notes the more shows that come on, the more they’re raising the bar for effect, and it’s essential to get them right.

11:26 AM: “What’s the heart of the story, why do we care?” Berlanti says of not thinking of the shows as superhero stories. They’re going to care about the characters first.

11:27 AM: The difference between DC and Marvel? “DC offers a more hopeful perspective,” Guggenheim says. He says one isn’t better or worse, but they’re just different.

11:28 AM: “Absolutely,” Cassidy says. “I’ve been waiting for this to happen, and I’m very excited and thrilled about it.” She says she had sat down with the EPs before they shot the pilot and she knew this was coming. Cassidy notes that Laurel hit rock bottom in season 2, and now she’s gone from “avenging her sister to honoring her sister to becoming her sister.”

11:29 AM: “Everyone on stage was our first choice,” Berlanti says of the guest cast who is on stage. Whenever they have a new character coming up, they make a whole list of people, and they’ve been lucky so far.

“I can take credit or I’m responsible,” Miller says of reuniting with Purcell on the show.

11:31 AM: “I think Ray is on a slightly different track than…Team Arrow,” Guggenheim says. He says part of the design of season 3 was adding more costume characters. Part of what’s happening this season is having the crusade go beyond Oliver and his original plans.

11:32 AM: “The last time we worked together was like five years ago, and the first day we were on set together, it was just there,” Purcell says. He notes he wasn’t looking around waiting to work on THE FLASH, but he got a call from Miller who asked him to be on the show, and he immediately said yes, because he likes working with him. And now, he’s impressed some key people: “My kids think it’s the coolest thing I’ve ever done in my fucking life.”

11:35 AM: Gustin acknowledges the green screen threw him at first, but he noted he’s been playing a superhero since he was a kid, and kids take the whole process seriously.

11:36 AM: “Well, for me, it’s important for employment,” Ramsey cracked about how important it is that Diggle is black. Seriously, he notes that it’s important because Diggle is in many ways, Arrow’s second-in-command, and he’s well-adjusted, has a daughter, etc. He likes that there is this honorable man who is now in the DC universe who can be played in the future by someone else as well.

11:37 AM: “I was hesitant, yes, stepping into the DC universe again after playing, in my mind, the pinnacle character,” Routh says. But he appreciated what ARROW has done, and he loves playing Ray. “It’s just become such a cool experience. Everyone on the show is great to work with, and it’s great being on a show that’s so loved.”

Any chance on an ATOM spinoff? Berlanti says they’re in very early talks about it, but not allowed to speak about it yet.

11:39 AM: “We didn’t make this slideshow,” Gustin says when it’s pointed out that Wells is listed as Reverse Flash. But yes, Cavanagh says he’s playing the character.

11:41 AM: “Wouldn’t you be?” Garber cracks when he was asked if he was surprised about being able to play a superhero now. But truly, he’s so excited to be here.

11:42 AM: “One of the best things about working with Dominic is we have chemistry, we have history,” Miller says. Since Captain Cold and Heat Wave have a history, it made it easy on them.

11:43 AM: “Heroes don’t need costumes,” Ramsey says about whether Diggle needs a costume. He says they’re “toying around” with that.

11:44 AM: “We worked together a couple of years ago,” Robbie Amell says. Aside from that, his fiancee loves Garber, and the two of them bonded.

“She’s even prettier than Robbie!” Garber exclaims.

“We enjoy each other’s chemistry a lot…we’re not actually conjoined,” Garber says. A lot of their Heat Wave work is special effects.

11:45 AM: How is it for Cassidy and Barrowman to be around all these hot men? “It’s awesome,” she laughed. “They’re all OK looking.”

Barrowman cracked, “I just like it when there are fight sequences with their shirts off.” And, he jokes (maybe), that he always ends up in the makeup trailer when Amell is getting his scars put on his chest.

11:48 AM: Cavanagh says that if people are questioning whether Wells is good or bad, he loves that — it means he’s done things right. And they’re all having a lot of fun with the process.

“Aside from Lincoln, this is the best role I’ve had as an actor,” Purcell says.

“It’s the absolute dream job — for us to be those people on screen and have those people on the journey with us, it’s the dream,” Barrowman says.

11:52 AM: Eddie’s name is not an accident, Kreisberg says. A lot of things have been planned for the show, and Eddie’s connection to the Reverse Flash lore is going to “pay off” in the back half of the year.

–

And we’re done!