Arrowverse Star Stephen Amell Addresses Returning As Green Arrow in James Gunn’s DCU

Stephen Amell played Oliver Queen’s Green Arrow for over a decade in the eponymous “Arrowverse,” and he has now opened up about possibly reprising the role in the rebooted DC Universe. Amell first appeared as businessman-turned-vigilante Oliver Queen in Arrow back in 2012, where he used his skills acquired after five years shipwrecked on the mysterious island Lian Yu to fight crime as “The Hood” — eventually becoming known as “Green Arrow.” Amell’s performance was celebrated throughout the Arrowverse, and while he made his last appearance in The Flash’s final season, his time as the Green Arrow may not be over.

“[I would be] down to do anything that makes the fans happy,” Amell revealed during the Arrowverse Heroes panel at Motor City Comic Con, moderated by Joe Deckelmeier for Screen Rant, when questioned whether he’d return as the Green Arrow in the new DCU. “I love playing the Green Arrow, I love playing Oliver Queen.” Amell’s comments suggest that he’d be open to reprising the role in James Gunn and Peter Safran’s rebooted DCU, although there are no confirmed plans to include the Green Arrow in the new franchise.

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Why DC Studios’ DC Universe Needs Green Arrow

As well as stressing his admiration for the character himself, Amell also talked about how much the fans mean to him. “I think, more than that, I like how it makes people feel when I come to these conventions, or just when I’m walking around on a daily basis. Not a day goes by that someone doesn’t talk to me about Arrow, the Green Arrow, Oliver Queen. But they always then relate it back to their experience with the series, how it made them feel, whether they bonded with a sibling, or a parent, or a friend with the series.”

It Would Be Great to See the Green Arrow in the New DC Universe

Whether played by Stephen Amell or not, the DCU would benefit from including the Green Arrow in its heroic roster. The character got a hilarious mention in Peacemaker season 1’s finale, “It’s Cow or Never,” but this moment did not appear in any flashbacks in season 2, which is canon to the DCU, leaving the Green Arrow’s fate in the new franchise uncertain. During the eighth episode of Peacemaker: The Official Podcast, DC Studios co-CEO James Gunn stated that Green Arrow is not “part of [the DCU’s] system right now, so maybe Green Arrow exists, maybe he doesn’t.”

As a key member of the Justice League in DC Comics, however, it would be great to see the Green Arrow debut in the new DCU. Now at 44-years-old, Stephen Amell could appear as an older, wiser, and more hardened Green Arrow in the DCU, while other stars including Sam Claflin, Austin Butler, Charlie Hunnam, Garrett Hedlund, and more have also been fan-cast in the role. Introducing a new Green Arrow would open up avenues to explore more street-level and politically-charged stories, and could also lead to the formation of a new Justice League team in the DCU.

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