Katie Cassidy

Arrow has been advancing in quite the casting so far. We know that ex-Hung star Stephen Amell will be playing the titular Green Arrow in the upcoming pilot, and last night, it was revealed that recurring CW-star Kate Cassidy will be playing the female lead of Laurel Lance. But, there are still a decent number of roles still need to be cast. Now, The CW has narrowed that margin down some by casting a former O.C. star as Oliver Queen’s younger sister, and a repetitive favorite, who’s guest starred on numerous CW series, and she’ll now headline in Arrow as the lead female role.

Deadline reports that Willa Holland, who played Kaitlin Cooper on The O.C., has been cast in the superhero pilot as Thea “Speedy” Queen, Oliver’s rebellious little sister who has a tight bond with her older brother, and in his five year disappearance, she seems to have started to cause a severe amount of fiction with their mother (Susanna Thompson).

Willa Holland

TV Line reports that Katie Cassidy, who’s starred inSupernatural and Gossip Girl along with the cancelled Melrose Place reboot, will co-star alongside Amell as Dinah “Laurel” Lance, shares a past romance with Oliver Queen, but also a grudge, as the two have not been on speaking terms for some time before his presumed death and disappearance. Many are already speculating that Cassidy’s character will become the new version of Black Canary, who was also a somewhat prominent character in Smallville, and is Queen’s wife in the comics.

The pilot was written by EPs Greg Berlanti, Marc Guggenheim and Andrew Kreisberg, and will be directed by David Nutter, who also helmed the pilot episode of Smallville. The two join Amell, Thompson, and David Ramsey as an “ex-military/special forces type now working in private security for Oliver”.

No word yet on the pilot’s chances, but we’ll keep you updated as pilot season progresses into the production status.