Felicity Smoak

Felicity Smoak is a DC Comics character. Her first appearance was in The Fury of Firestorm #23 (May 1984), created by writer Gerry Conway and artist Rafael Kayanan.^[1] She was originally the manager of a computer software firm who opposed the superhero Firestorm because of his recklessness, eventually becoming the second wife of Edward Raymond and stepmother to Ronnie Raymond, one-half of the integrated dual identity of the superhero.^[2]

A re-imagined Jewish^[3] version of the character is portrayed by Emily Bett Rickards in the television series Arrow, who later operates under the alias Overwatch, with a similar version of Felicity introduced briefly as the New 52 incarnation of the character in Green Arrow (vol. 5) #35.^[4]

Fictional character biography

Portrayed as the supervisor of a New York computer software firm in her 1984 debut appearance, Firestorm first encounters her in the course of one of his battles with a villain, where he inadvertently magnetizes and effectively destroys several of the computers storing the software programs in development. This results in millions of dollars in property damage, which threatens to ruin the software firm and leads to a heated confrontation between Felicity and Firestorm where she threatened to organize a class action lawsuit against him. Felicity would make recurring appearance, often taking an adversarial role against Firestorm and making a point of explaining what the collateral damage of his battles cost her and other civilians. On one occasion, a frustrated Firestorm lashes out against Felicity's confrontational behavior by using his molecular transmutation powers to transform her clothes to soap suds, a tactic he previously used on the supervillain Plastique. Humiliated from being rendered nude in public, Felicity retaliates by filing a lawsuit against him.

At some point, Felicity develops a romantic relationship with Ed Raymond. She has no idea that Ed's son Ronnie is the other half of Firestorm. When Ronald discovers that Felicity is seeing his father, he is uncertain how to treat her due to their past interactions. Over time, Felicity and Ed fall deeply in love and are married. After the wedding Felicity learns the truth about Ronnie's secret dual identity, but by this point she had forgiven him for his past transgressions and stopped berating him, although she would still insist on reminding him about the importance of using his superpowers in a responsible manner.

The New 52

DC Comics rebooted its comic properties in 2011 as part of a relaunch entitled The New 52, which led to the character of Felicity Smoak being brought back in a fashion similar to the version seen on the popular "Arrow" television series. The New 52 version of Felicity Smoak is introduced in 2014 in Green Arrow #35, the first issue of that book to be written by Arrow showrunner Andrew Kreisberg. In #35, she is introduced in an end-of-issue cliffhanger as an assassin out to kill Oliver, but quickly explains that while she is a hacker-for-hire who has "done questionable things" in her past, "leading a hero to his death isn't one of them", explaining she did not know her target was the Green Arrow when she accepted the job. After proving her hacker credentials by explaining to him that she knows his secret identity, as well as highly specific details from his superhero, personal, professional and family lives, she offers to become a part of his team out of a desire to help him save the city. Surmising that whoever hired her to kill Oliver has extremely evil plans, she teams up with Green Arrow to track down her client's other target, a woman named Mia Dearden, who they soon discover is being pursued by the deadly archer Merlyn.

Later in the same storyline, Felicity is arrested and placed in a Supermax facility for her many cybercrimes, where she shares a cell with Cheetah; it is established that Felicity had once been hired to dox Cheetah, putting the villain and her loved ones in added danger. Oliver saves her from Cheetah with some help from Steve Trevor of A.R.G.U.S. Ultimately, Oliver saves Mia from the man pursuing her and her father John King. Oliver also exposes him as a murderer who used bribery and corruption to control Seattle. Felicity is then invited by Trevor to join A.R.G.U.S., but appears to reject his offer in favour of working with Oliver.

Despite opting to stay with Oliver, DC removed Andrew Kreisberg as writer of the series, leading to the character vanishing from the book, along with other elements from the TV series that Kresiberg brought to the title. The character has yet to resurface since Green Arrow #40.

Alternate versions

DC Bombshells

In an alternate history version of World War II, a young Felicity and her family were evicted from their house in Gotham City by their landlord because they violated the law by taking care of some relatives, who have fled the horrors of Europe. The landlord tries to take some of their personal belongings, justifying as taking back rent. Felicity argues with him, saying she won't turn her back to her own family. Fortunately, a team of Batgirls come to the rescue, saving the Smoak family and all their belongings. Felicity and her family are later moved to a safe house by the young heroines.^[5] Smoak eventually joins the Batgirls and dons a costume herself.^[6]

In other media

Live-action

Emily Bett Rickards at the 2013 San Diego Comic Con.

Felicity Smoak appears in the television series Arrow, portrayed by Emily Bett Rickards as an I.T. expert, skilled hacker, former CEO of Palmer Technologies and Oliver Queen's love interest. At first, she was a guest star but she quickly became a favorite of a group of viewers who enjoyed the chemistry between Felicity and Oliver Queen, dubbing their relationship "Olicity", a combination of the names "Oliver" and "Felicity". She became a regular from the second season onwards. She has also made guest appearances in the DC television series, The Flash and Legends of Tomorrow.

Felicity is introduced in season one of Arrow as a recurring character: an I.T. employee at Queen Consolidated who is tasked by Oliver Queen with various discreet jobs which aid him as a crime-fighting vigilante in their home of Starling City. Over the course of the season, Oliver reveals his secret identity to her and she gives full-time technical support to his mission. In season two, she has a spark with Central City CSI Barry Allen (Grant Gustin), who later becomes the super-fast hero known as the Flash. Towards the end of the season, she plays a pivotal role in helping capture Oliver's enemy, Slade Wilson, also known as Deathstroke. In season three, she dates billionaire Ray Palmer (Brandon Routh) and becomes vice president of Palmer Technologies after Ray takes over Queen Consolidated. Felicity helps Laurel Lance (Katie Cassidy) come into her own and become the Black Canary following the death of her sister, Sara Lance (Caity Lotz), who was known as the Canary. Her relationship with Ray ends when it becomes apparent she has feelings for Oliver. Soon after, By the end of season three, Oliver and Felicity drive away from Starling City together to live a more normal, happier life. In the fourth season, Felicity and Oliver attempt to live a peaceful domestic life in Ivy Town, but soon have to return to Starling City, now renamed Star City. She becomes friends with Curtis Holt, an employee at Palmer Technologies, which she now runs. Later in the season, she is shot, resulting in paralysis from the waist down. Undeterred from supporting Oliver's mission, she returns to duty with a codename of her own: Overwatch.^[7] (Oliver thought about calling her "Oracle", but the name was already taken.) She later reunites with her father, who is revealed to be cyber criminal Noah Kuttler (The Calculator), who she brings to justice soon after. A prototype microchip created by Curtis is embedded into her spine and allows Felicity to eventually walk again; this coincides with her learning that Oliver fathered a son, a secret he kept from her. Hurt by the revelation and unable to fully trust Oliver, feeling that his time on the island has left him incapable of really opening up to others even if he wants to, she ends their engagement and leaves Team Arrow. She instead dedicates herself to making Palmer Tech a beacon of hope for Star City, using its technological breakthroughs to help people, but she later decides to rejoin the team after the death of the Black Canary (Katie Cassidy) which ultimately led to her being fired from Palmer Tech due to consistently neglecting to do her job.

Animation and video games

• Rickards also voiced the character on the web-series Vixen.^[8]
• Felicity appears in Lego Batman 3: Beyond Gotham as part of the Arrow DLC pack.

References