'Arrow' producer reveals details of season 3's Big Bad and 'Flash' crossover episode 

\'Arrow\' producer reveals details of season 3\'s Big Bad and \'Flash\' crossover episode

What’s that? You say you need to know what’s going to happen on this season of

after last season’s absolutely bonkers finale that saw the greatest freighter-based showdown this side of

executive producer Andrew Kreisberg—who now has his hands full with The CW’s other new flashy (get it?) superhero show

(now you get it). But since Kreisberg is pulling double duty with the DC Comics heroes, that means he’s got double the scoop to offer.

Perhaps most pressing is the question of which villainous threat Oliver Queen will face this coming season, which picks up six or seven months after the season-two finale. Crime is down and the police aren’t hunting Ollie—but peace never lasts that long in Starling City. Despite last season’s startlingly sinister Slade, this year’s villain will have to up the ante even more.

“Slade had a very specific agenda—he was out for revenge and had set up this elaborate five-year plot,” Kreisberg tells

. “What’s interesting about the villain in season three is that he doesn’t necessarily disagree with [Oliver]. He doesn’t have any personal animus towards the Arrow, and he actually in some ways has a very similar worldview. [But] the Arrow is thinking too small.”

Kreisberg continued: “In some ways, as Oliver is struggling with whether or not he can be the Arrow and Oliver at the same time, the villain of season 3 is saying, ‘Being Oliver Queen is what’s holding you back from fulfilling your true destiny.’ So it’s a very interesting dynamic, but it is tied in the same way that Oliver last year was wrestling with, ‘Am I a hero or a killer?’ The theme of identity is tied up very much in how the villain is presented to Oliver.”

Kriesberg teases that the casting of this year’s Big Bad—one speculative fan theory suggests it’s Ra’s al Ghul—will happen “soon.” Certainly iconic baddie al Ghul would fit the bill for Kreisberg’s description of what Ollie will face in the coming year.

But while he’ll face a new villain, he’ll also encounter a new hero—or, a familiar one, actually. Fans have been buzzing about the announced

crossover episode, which will happen in the eighth episode of both shows (think November). So why is this Barry Allen-Oliver Queen mash-up more special than other crossovers?

“It’s really going to be an adventure with the Arrow and Flash on both episodes. Watching the two teams come together and fight alongside each other, it’s one of the most fun parts,” says Kreisberg. “We just don’t believe in waiting. We really believe in accelerated storytelling and especially for those first nine episodes of the season—for both shows—hopefully we’ve designed it so that none of these [make you say], ‘Well, I missed that one, it’s fine.’”

operates on the hope that none of the episodes feel like duds. That’s why Kreiger and company have “spectacular and amazing midseason finales planned for both shows that are both game-changers … and what better way to lead into it than by having this amazing team-up?”

Please enable JavaScript to view the comments powered by Disqus.

Robert Downey Jr. tops Forbes $$ list

J.K. Rowling plans more Cormoran Strike

Gordon Ramsay dons Speedo in 'Hotel Hell' season premiere Michelle Newman, Community Contributor

VIDEO: Being neighborly is soooo American on 'Welcome to Sweden' Lincee Ray, Community Contributor

Love is stronger than blood on 'The Fosters' Maggie Fremont, Community Contributor

Snoop Dogg Says He Got High At The White House

This Should Quash Rumors Of Taylor Swift And Selena Gomez's Feud

Here's Why Everyone Should See Sara Bareilles Live In Concert

Blog: \'Who Wouldn\'t Be Scared to Face a Bunch of Exes\'

Meet Jimmy Kimmel\'s Newborn Daughter Jane (VIDEO)

Recap: Tamra Barney Breaks Down When Her Son Announces He\'s Getting Married

Viral Vid: New Star Wars X-Wing Fighter

Is Zoë Saldana Pregnant? See the Telling Photos for Yourself

Ian Ziering: I Never Thought Sharknado Would Come Out

PHOTO: Kerry Washington and Nnamdi Asomugha Visit Disneyland

Orange Is the New Black Spurs Michigan Sheriff to Change Inmate Jumpsuits

Casey Anthony: Her Strange Life 3 Years Later

Lea Michele\'s Butt Has Been Very Busy on Instagram: A Photo Recap

The Next Big \'Boy Band\': 5 Seconds of Summer Celebrate Album Release - and Try on Thongs! - in N.Y.C. (VIDEO)

Meet The Man Who's Been Living In The Future For The Past 40 Years

Rachel McAdams Gets Candid About Working With Lindsay Lohan

This Week\'s Cover: EW\'s exclusive first look and on-set report at

Oral History: The cast and crew remember the film that launched a $1.4 billion franchise and cemented their place in pop culture forever.

The Incredible Life of Jim Sternako: Meet the man who made Nick Fury cool and gave Indiana Jones his bullwhip.

Chuck Palahniuk\'s \'Fight Club\' comic-book sequel has artist, publisher

\'Eat Pray Love\' author Elizabeth Gilbert on the books of her life

Thomas Berger, author of \'Little Big Man,\' dies at 89

Here are the 15 best short stories you can read at the \'New Yorker\'

Will Ferrell and Adam McKay to sink their teeth into \'Manimal\'

GLAAD study finds both low and low quality LGBT representation on film

See a creepy new poster for Nicholas McCarthy\'s \'At the Devil\'s Door\'

Q&A: Neneh Cherry is \'never really worried about being trendy\'

Chippy Nonstop unveils her dirty-cute single \'Peeka\'

White Arrows get electro-psychedelic with \'We Can\'t Ever Die\'

Hear Claude VonStroke\'s acid-drenched banger \'CaliFuture\'