‘Arrow’ Gets a Game-Changing New Intro

Arrow began a new era in tonight’s episode – and it brought along a unique new intro with it.

Spoilers for tonight’s episode of Arrow, ‘Next of Kin’, below.

Last week’s Arrow ended on a pretty surprising note, with Oliver Queen (Stephen Amell) passing on the mantle of Green Arrow to John Diggle (David Ramsey). With Oliver no longer donning the hood, the show is entering a new kind of normal, meaning that the “I am the Green Arrow” introduction needed some revising.

“My name is Oliver Queen.” Oliver proclaims in tonight’s episode. “After five years in hell, I returned home with only one goal – to save my city. But I couldn’t honor that commitment, and honor the promise I made to the mother of my son. So I asked the best man I know to help. His name is John Diggle, and he is the Green Arrow.”

Sure, there will probably be some debate about the new intro (namely, why Oliver said it instead of Diggle himself). But it marks a new, ensemble-centric era for Arrow‘s sixth season, something only further brought home by the new title card that debuted last week.

The season six intro has been a mystery for a few months, especially considering the cliffhanger season five was left on. Amell certainly didn’t help that speculation, especially after hinting that it was a large spoiler at a convention this summer.

“Everyone always asks me if I will do the Arrow intro.” Amell revealed. “And I have to tell you, I can’t do it this year for a very specific reason. Because me doing the Arrow intro is probably the biggest spoiler that I can possibly drop about the show. Sorry. I would get in so much trouble.”

So, for how many episodes can fans expect to hear this Diggle-centric intro? According to a recent interview from Ramsey, Diggle’s tenure as the Green Arrow might not be as long as you’d think.

“No. No, it’s Green Arrow. Stephen Amell is Green Arrow,” Ramsey explained. “It’s not going to last. Of course not, but I think it’s very interesting and it’s an interesting twist on how it fits into the ultimate theme of the season, I think it’s very clever. I think it’s an interesting detour.”

Arrow airs on Thursday nights at 9/8c on The CW.