Nope, ‘Arrow’ Still Isn’t Turning Felicity Into ‘Oracle’

Whether or not you bought the series killing its most beloved character, Arrow deliberately left fans in a tizzy with its 2015 cliffhanger “Dark Waters,” seemingly placing Felicity Smoak in mortal peril. Plenty of rumors and set photos have kept speculation alive in recent weeks, but producers assure that Felicity still won’t become the Arrow incarnation of “Oracle,” wheelchair-enabled alter-ego of Batman character Barbara Gordon.

You’re warned of full spoilers for the most recently aired episodes of Arrow Season 4, as well as some telling set photos and promos from future episodes, but despite Felicity’s seemingly-confirmed survival, don’t expect the character to crib the “Oracle” name from Bat-comics. Not only does executive producer Wendy Mericle confirm to TVLine that option is “off the table” (as with most Batman elements), but the series long-ago decided not to venture down that path:

That’s something we definitely talked about [doing] with Felicity in the beginning…. But yeah, it will not be Oracle, sadly. People have to tune in to see what happens.

Fans of the series will also remember that Season 2 Felicity flashback hour “The Secret Origin of Felicity Smoak” originally bore the title of “Oracle,” before producers changed their mind, but here’s where things get a little tricky (and doubly spoiler-filled). Recent set photos seemingly at least confirmed that Felicity would find herself in a wheelchair after the shooting by Damien Darhk’s “Ghost” thugs, a turn corroborated by an Australian “Blood Debts” promo that specifically outlined her paralysis, yet executive producer Marc Guggenheim offered a cryptic tease in response to the leaks:

How exactly Arrow might hit that particular “Undo” button remains to be seen, if indeed Guggenheim is implying Felicity’s fate as a hallucination, but has the “Oracle” debate finally been laid to rest? Can’t a girl get tech-savvy and use a wheelchair without being a commissioner’s daughter?

We’ll find out when Arrow returns with “Blood Debts” on January 20, the trailer of which you can find below.

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