Did DC Just Kill Off Two Fan-Favorite Characters?

Green Arrow‘s first arc has come to a close, as the series has sought to try to rewrite and recontextualize some elements of the Arrow Fam’s history. The first six issues have provided some major developments with ramifications on the larger DC Universe, and the book’s latest issue hammered that home even further, possibly teasing the demise of two surprising characters. Spoilers for Green Arrow #6 from Joshua Williamson, Sean Izaakse, Phil Hester, Ande Parks, Romulo Fajardo Jr., and Troy Peteri below! Only look if you want to know!

The bulk of the issue concerns Oliver Queen / Green Arrow getting to the bottom of Malcolm Merlyn’s machinations against him, as well as reuniting with Dinah Lance / Black Canary. Along the way, Oliver learns that Merlyn made a deal with Amanda Waller to set his plan in motion, but it is not make clear why she is targeting the Arrow Fam so closely. The issue’s epilogue takes that even further, showing Roy Harper / Arsenal and Jade Nguyen / Cheshire reluctantly working together once again, trying to snuff out Waller’s plans. Once Roy realizes that Waller is also involved with the Titans’ newly-launched Beast World predicament, both he and Jade get shot by Waller, who is flanked by Peacemaker and Peacewrecker. While the ending seems to hint at Jade and Roy’s demise, the promise of the next Green Arrow storyline being “The Hunt for Arsenal” could mean that the story is going to get more complex. 

What Is Titans: Beast World About?

Amanda Waller, DC’s Queen of sinister operations, will play a key role Titans: Beast World. As the Super Heroes and Super-Villains of the DCU struggle to remain human, “The Wall” will seize this opportunity to rid humanity of metahumans once and for all, and at any cost. Furthermore, Waller is not above using those same metahumans to achieve her goals.

“It grew organically,” Titans writer Tom Taylor recently told ComicBook.com. “It was actually, I had elements of Beast World in my original pitch for Titans, where I wanted to take them in a year’s time. So when this idea came about, that there could be an event at the end of the year and it could be Titan-centric, we were like, ‘Well, I think I’ve got the idea for that,’ and it just grew from there. What was great about it was knowing that we were always heading to this event meant that I could seed this entire event in the first five issues of Titans. It doesn’t have to come into play and suddenly stop the momentum on a story. This is the story that we’ve been building to from issue one of Titans, so that’s exciting.”

What Is the New Green Arrow Series About?

In Green Arrow, the Emerald Archer is lost, and it will take Oliver Queen’s whole family to find him! But dangerous forces are determined to keep them apart at any cost! Spinning out of Dark Crisis on Infinite Earths, Green Arrow by DC architect Joshua Williamson (Dark Crisis on Infinite Earths, Superman) and artist Sean Izaakse (Thunderbolts) is an action-packed adventure across the DCU that sets the stage for major stories in 2023! The series was previously upgraded to twelve issues, doubling the previous order of six.

“It’s been a blast writing this series,” Williamson explained in a post on his Substack. “A dream come true. My goal for this series to tell a kind of “Hush” level story with Ollie and his family. We’re only 3 issues in and we have a lot of characters to bring in for this Arrow Family reunion.’

What do you think of Green Arrow hinting at Arsenal and Cheshire’s deaths? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!