Stephen Amell Talks About DC Cinematic Movie And TV Universes

Arrow’s Stephen Amell shared his thoughts on Warner Bros. decision to keep their film and television universes separate, offering a candid point of view on how Warners went about announcing their new cinematic universe.

Speaking with AMC Movie Talk, Amell, who plays Oliver Queen/Green Arrow, actually expressed frustration with Warner Bros.’ film announcement. Specifically, he felt that the timing of Warner Bros.’ news was disrespectful to the CW’s The Flash crew.

I thought that the way that Warner Bros. announced the slate of DC movies could have been handled better. And I think someone like Grant Gustin, who has just launched an iconic character like the Flash to record-breaking numbers, numbers that far-surpassed Arrow’s numbers, he should have been given a wider berth than two episodes before another actor was announced to play his character. All that being said, that’s because I’m protective of Grant, and that’s because I think producing 23 episodes of superhero television is more difficult than producing a feature film. And it’s 23 episodes again, and again, and again.

Afterward, Amell reiterated prior statements that he doesn’t see a need to connect DC’s film universe with its television one. If DC found another actor to portray a cinematic Oliver Queen, as they did with Barry Allen, Amell said that he would be alright with that. As for DC’s actual movies plans, Amell said that he actually likes them. And despite quelling hopes that he might appear somewhere in the line-up, the suggested that the idea might still be on the table.

The plans that Warner Bros. has, and it’s a great plan, overall, and DC has for the introduction to the Justice League of America and all the standalone films, is going to take place over the course of five to six years. So who knows what could happen. I’ve had some great conversations with Geoff Johns, who is DC’s Chief Creative Officer. We had this conversation shortly after these announcements were made, and I came away from the conversation feeling great.

Obviously, no one knows what that conversation entailed, but Amell’s optimism suggests that an Arrow and the Justice League crossover isn’t dead and buried. Geoff Johns recently said that the television and film universes were separate Earths in a live-action Multiverse, and fans shouldn’t rule out an eventual crossover. All it would take is a little dimensional barrier breaking, and Amell would have his backdoor entrance into the DC cinematic universe. Who’s up for “A Crisis on Cinematic Earths?”