'Arrow' season 5 spoilers, release date news: Thea Queen will be Oliver's chief of staff

Willa Holland as Thea Queen aka Speedy The CW

"Arrow" season 5 will see a massive shake-up with the team dynamics given that only Oliver Queen aka Green Arrow (Stephen Amell) and Felicity Smoak (Emily Brett Rickards) are the only original team members remaining. However, it has been revealed that Thea Queen (Willa Holland) will still help her brother but in a different way.

According to a report from Entertainment Weekly, she will now serve as Oliver's chief of staff since he is now the Mayor of Star City. Executive producer Marc Guggenheim explains that this will help establish her independently from Malcolm Merlyn (John Barrowman) and also showcase the skills Thea has inherited from her mother.

"Perhaps, to her own surprise, she's actually really, really good at it. All the skills that she learned by watching her mother for all those years, as well as running Verdant, she's found very transferable to City Hall, and in many ways, she's a much better chief of staff than Oliver is a mayor," he explains in the interview.

Screen Rant reveals that Thea will likely be much better in handling the Mayor's office than Oliver will given that he is going to be suiting up as the Green Arrow to fight crime, prioritizing his superhero life over his political responsibilities. 

The report also points out that this means Thea could still suit up in her superhero outfit in order to dish out beatings when usual political negotiations go sour although this is still a speculation and not something confirmed to happen in season 5. She is possibly going to be suiting up given that actor Colton Haynes is not yet returning as Roy Harper.

Fans speculate that as showcased in previous seasons, this means Thea and Oliver will be facing enemies in politics and business just as often as they do in the streets.

"Arrow" season 5 premieres this Oct. 5.

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