Futures?

[Artistsean]

This show has hinted, subtly and not so subtly, at different character's futures. From Dinah Laurel Lance, Tommy Merlyn, and his sister Thea AKA Speedy.
Dinah (also the name of Black Cannary) has shown a love/hate relationship with Ollie and that she is a capable fighter. In the comics Merlyn is an rival archer almost as good as Ollie. And in the comics Ollie's sidekick is called Speedy.
So if Laurel becomes Black Cannary, Tommy becomes Merlyn, Thea becomes his sidekick Speedy, then most of the cast will have gone from regular people to vigilantes. The cast will look very different.
Do you think they should make these changes? Eventually Clark was surrounded by super types and vigilantes. Gone were his everyday normal friends and he was left with Ollie/Green Arrow, Chloe/Watchtower, Hawkman, Lois, and various other super types. But that took several years.
This too might take several years, but just a thought. Do you want Tommy to go from the smarmy but comedic friend to the archer enemy? Should they drag that out like Lex becoming evil? Should Laurel go from being a by the books lawyer to being a street fighting vigilante? Should they drag that out? Should she get a sonic scream? What about Ollie's sister? Should she become Speedy? Maybe it could start with him training her as a way to reconnect with his sister.
Will it be Ollie's touching their lives that will turn these average citizens into vigilantes and criminals?
And are there any other hints I missed?

[The Infernal]

I wouldn't mind seeing them progress into those characters... eventually. Though in the case of Dinah I think they would have to repeal the no superpowers rule in a later season.

Merlyn however I'd be more inclined to see develop a bit sooner. Say towards the end of season 1 the seeds are planted for his motivation and in season 2 he begins to go more in that direction with possibly at the end of that season or into season 3 he becomes the villain.

[greenlantern248]

I agree with you Infernal, I would like to see that Merlyn has been shady all along and that he has been working with The League of Assassins for a number of years now, and that he is secretly working with Ollie's mom, trying to find out what Ollie knows.

I say this only cause from that one scene in the pilot, when Ollie went to check on him after the kidnapping, Tommy has doing the one eye slightly open to see if Oliver was still there, making me think that Tommy wasn't really knocked out, but was there to see if Oliver really did know anything

[protocida]

^ Doubtful.

Merlyn's descent will be detailed in the show, he'll not turn out to be evil and with the skills to match Oliver all along.

[The Infernal]

Yeah, I don't see them doing a reveal that he was evil all along. I think it would fit better if it's developed throughout the show.

I wouldn't mind seeing the League of Assassins involved eventually, but not from the start and I'm sceptical as to how you can involve them and tie them to Merlyn.

[greenlantern248]

Well they could work it so that Merlyn had joined the league when oliver was missing as a sorta group that told him they could rescue Oliver, and got very little training and it isn't until the don't go after Oliver when Tommy realizes that the League are killers and he distances himself from them, then when they start Merlyn's descent when he goes back to the league and get more and better training.
How to work them in maybe the League of Assassins are the group that Ollie's mom is talking to

[Primal Slayer]

I am fine with Dinah and Merlyn evolving into their comic counterparts, but I am not really interested in seeing Thea becoming Speedy the hero. It is probably because we have four DC characters who can take on the role and well the Queen family needs someone to stay somewhat normal.

[solidsnake86]

I'm beginning to think Barrowman may be Tommy's father.

[Justin]

I am not banking on them ever turning these characters. For all we know they can be homages/red herrings. I do forsee Tommy becoming a bad guy, but Thea and Laurel's characters are nowhere near fleshed out enough for them to become anything more anytime soon imo. Of course, if things go five or more seasons, the most dramatic of changes could and probably will happen. I prefer not to think about it too much and hope they surprise me

[Syncos]

I honestly don't think they were foreshadowing Thea as speedy. I think it was a nod to the character, and a reference for fanboys to freak out about. But I don't think it will be that way. That being said, it looks as though she'll be influential in Speedy's entrance, as she's supposed to be romantically intwined with Roy Harper.

We'll see.

As for Canary. I have a feeling (purely speculative) that something will happen to Detective Lance, and that will trigger Dinah to make a shift in her life. It might be a spider-man-esq moment where as a lawyer it's someone she couldn't put away that ends up killing him, and she realizes that she can't continue to fight inside the law. Who knows. But during San Diego Comic Con 2012, the shows producers said that Laurel will become Black Canary "later then you hope but sooner than you expect." Nice and vague, but it seems to be that they're working towards it.