Arrow: Stephen Amell Says Oliver’s Ending is What He Wanted for the Character

For the past seven seasons fans have watched Stephen Amell‘s Oliver Queen go on a journey that took him from a hood-wearing vigilante taking out those who failed Starling City to that of a full-blown hero who had not only succeeded at saving the city but who had emerged from the shadows to do so on Arrow. When the show returns this fall for its eighth and final season, though, fans already know that the last chapter will see the end of the journey for Oliver. The Season 7 finale already revealed the hero dies in the end, but according to series star Amell, there are still some surprises that await — and Oliver’s ultimate ending is the one that he personally wants.

In an interview with TV Guide, Amell explained that Oliver’s ending on Arrow is what he wants, so much so that it’s something he himself pitched.

“It’s what I want,” Amell said. “I pitched it for a very long time. It’s what I want, but concurrently, that doesn’t mean that there aren’t surprises along the way. I was floored when I got the pitch for the crossover. I don’t see it coming — nobody sees it coming. It’s going to be so rad.”

The idea of someone describing their character’s end as “rad” my be a little jarring, but we already know, thanks to that aforementioned Season 7 finale, that Oliver’s end is part of the crossover, the eagerly-anticipated “Crisis on Infinite Earths”. The Season 7 finale Oliver Queen and Felicity Smoak (Emily Bett Rickards) going into hiding after defeating the Ninth Circle. Quite a bit of time passed, and their daughter Mia was born, only for their new bit of domesticity to be shattered by the arrival of The Monitor (LaMonica Garrett).

As The Monitor explained, he was coming to collect on Oliver’s deal that he made during “Elseworlds”, where he bargained for the lives of Barry Allen and Kara Danvers. The Monitor revealed that in order to keep the universe at balance, Oliver would die in the coming “Crisis” — but that he needed to help try to help prevent more bloodshed in the event.

With “Crisis” being the biggest event for the Arrowverse yet, it positions Oliver to go out as a huge hero — and give Arrow the most consequences of the rest of the Arrowverse shows.

“I’m tempted to say actually Arrow, and I may be a little bit biased in giving that answer but I would say if we’re able to do what we have planned, it’s pretty big consequences that come out of ‘Crisis’ for Arrow,” Arrow executive producer Marc Guggenheim said when asked about what series would see the biggest consequences last month.

“I know, it’s big things right before we end the show,” he continued. “It was interesting, you know, because of the nature of ‘Crisis’ and the nature of the ten episode order for Arrow the two projects really became linked to the extent where the build up to ‘Crisis’ really takes place in Arrow and then ‘Crisis’ has to impact the final two episodes of Arrow. It’s all connected, and I think it’s going to be connected in a way that’s satisfying to people. That’s the trick. That’s the hardest part.”

Arrow returns for its eighth and final season on Tuesday, October 15th at 9/8con The CW. “Crisis on Infinite Earths” comes to the Arrowverse this December.