Oliver Queen (Stephen Amell) is officially the most inexperienced person to ever get elected mayor, but that didn’t stop Star City from voting him into office on Arrow.
The former billionaire playboy is now the person with the most political power in Star City, regardless of whether or not he was the best or most qualified person for the job. To be fair, he’s actually not doing a terrible job so far … although that could be because his younger sister Thea (Willa Holland) is doing most of the work for him while he focuses more on his nighttime duties as the Green Arrow.
As Arrow hits the milestone of 100 episodes during the four-part mega crossover next week, we decided to celebrate the occasion by having some fun with the cast and showrunners, asking them who should be mayor instead of Oliver … since literally almost anyone else would be a more qualified candidate.
Slade Wilson
“Out of all the characters, Slade Wilson [Manu Bennett],” executive producer Marc Guggenheim told us. “You know what, no one would mess with City Hall if Slade Wilson was mayor. It would be awesome. I think he would be an awesome mayor. He would ban all 3D movies in the city because he can’t enjoy them. He would change all the traffic laws because of the difficulty with making a right turn for him. He would be great.”
Quentin Lance
Rather than a villain like Deathstroke, executive producer Wendy Mericle decided to stick with a character who was on the more heroic side of things.
“Yeah, Oliver may be the most inexperienced [mayor] in U.S. history,” she said with a laugh. “I think Quentin Lance [Paul Blackthorne] has a lot of experience in public service and working with the city. I think he would be amazing in that job.”
But Blackthorne disagreed with her. “No, it should be Oliver Queen!” he said. “He just made me Deputy Mayor so of course I’m going to say that. I back him.”
Felicity Smoak
And Emily Bett Rickards thought her own character, Felicity Smoak, would be the best candidate for the job.
“While I don’t think Felicity is ready for the job, maybe she could train while Oliver does the job right now,” Rickards said. “But maybe also Wells [Tom Cavanagh] on The Flash because he’s a con artist and he could cheat and win the election and then actually get things done.”
Perhaps Felicity’s new boyfriend, Detective Billy Malone (Tyler Ritter) wouldn’t be such a bad choice either. At least, that’s what Ritter seemed to think.
“Not to toot my own horn but Detective Billy Malone has been in the force for nearly a decade at this point,” he said with a smile. “He knows the law inside and out. He’s definitely got the best interests of Star City at heart. I’m not saying this election season or next, but you never know.”
Oliver still has some support from his team, however, since new recruit Artemis (Madison McLaughlin) believes he’s doing a good job as mayor so far.
“He’s qualified in the sense that he loves the city,” McLaughlin said. “He sees the city in a different way than everyone else does. But he does have his hands full. I think Oliver’s heart is in the right place. And he’s got good old Detective Lance alongside him and Thea, what she’s doing is great. You get to see this side of her where she’s still kicking ass but it’s in a new way and a new light.”
Thea Queen
Joe Dinicol, who plays new Team Arrow recruit Rory Regan, agreed that Thea’s political competence has been a pleasant surprise to him.
“She’s sort of doing the job now in his stead,” Dinicol said. “But aside from that I would probably have to say Felicity. She’s the most capable, she can multi-task, she thinks on her feet, she’s insanely passionate and she just gets things done.”
Who do you think should be Star City Mayor instead of Oliver? Tweet me your top picks at @SydneyBucksbaum!
The 100th episode of Arrow airs Wednesday, Nov. 30 at 8 p.m. on The CW.
Images: The CW
