There’s been a lot of sources recently posting that Arrow will be returning for a ninth and final season. I’m seeing a lot of these articles, and they tend to pop up every now and again, gain traction, and then dip. So as of right now, and by my research, the show isn’t on the radar of being revived, but as always, money prompts and decisions change.
It’s been 2 years since Stephen Amell hit us with the bombshell that the show would be ending, and to be honest, it was past time that it did.
Once the show ended, it was very nearly revived. When COVID first struck, lockdowns were everywhere, actors and filmmakers were seriously struggling. As the majority of The CW shows are shot in Vancouver, Amell wasn’t far away.
He admitted on the Hero Nation podcast that he had been in touch with the Creative Directors, told them he’s willing to work if The CW needs him, all they need to do is find a way to bring Oliver Queen back from the dead.
Whilst this would be great for Arrow fans, including me, I just don’t think a ninth season of Arrow will do much, if at all.
Before I get into this point, it’s worth noting that I loved Arrow. It was the show that got me hooked into The CW’s shows and the universe. He remains one of my favourite heroes, and this was something Stephen himself did.
Now, getting to the point. If you’re a Green Arrow comic book fan, you’re going to have serious issues with the show. The first glaring issue with the show was Felicity Smoak.
In the frame, Felicity serves her purpose well. She’s a geeky nerd who’s fantastic with computers and has the ability to hack, track, and work anything that has a chip inside of it. Emily Bett Rickards was a perfect cast for the character, and she served her purpose very well as the Overwatch type character.
The issue is the romance. It was clumsy, not lore accurate and frustrating to watch at the best of times. They first got together at the end of season 3. During season 4, they were happy, Felicity becomes paralysed, breaks up with Oliver, they get back, she breaks up with him again, and everything between. It became less about a superhero show, and more of a soap so focused on ridiculous drama.
Most fans of the Green Arrow character know that he and Black Canary are very close romantically, and have been for so many years. They did explore the romance between Oliver and Laurel during season 1, well, the showrunners claimed they did, but it wasn’t enough. For me as a fan, it actually built a very good frame to build on with the pair. This was a changing moment of the series, and a lot of fans do say the show changed in a big way after season 2.
The next point to make is he’s dead. At the end of Crisis, Oliver got a solid sendoff. It was emotional, and I even somewhat didn’t mind that he became The Spectre. By bringing the show back, it kind of makes the Crisis and Elseworlds crossovers meaningless by bringing him back as the Green Arrow for an Arrow season.
I made an article similar to this not long ago, I do want Stephen Amell to return, but not for an Arrow season, but on a cameo set basis in crossover events. The Flash’s Armageddon crossover would be a great way to bring him back on a temporary basis, but that’s as far as it can go.
All in all, the show ran its course. It had some incredible moments, it had some disastrous moments, but it was a show that many fans of it still hold dear, including me.
I feel at this point, if they wanted to bring the “Arrow” show back, then I’d much prefer a reboot. Bring Stephen back, focus on a different earth where Oliver is alive with his team, married to Laurel, and have it back before the political drama tore the show to shreds.
That’s the only way it can work. That way, it pays homage to the original Oliver Queen that died and can focus on freshening out new stories. It can still build on a lot of what we know, but in this version, in my opinion, this would be more of a soft reboot than a continuation, and this way, he can still be involved in the crossovers.
But, I’d only take this if nothing else could be brought to the table by The CW. We already know they rejected a Wonder Girl series, shut down both the Painkiller spinoff and The Green Arrow and the Canaries spinoff series. There’s still more heroes out there that deserve the budget, and chance to shine.
Arrow ended early last year, Black Lightning ended earlier this year, and Supergirl is its final episodes before finishing completely. Superman & Lois was given to us (a masterpiece may I add), Naomi is on its way to us soon, so that does leave a slot in play to give us something new and exciting.
