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Arrow is an American television series developed by writer/producers The CW on October 10, 2012, with international broadcasting taking place in late 2012. Primarily filmed in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, the series follows billionaire playboy Oliver Queen, portrayed by Stephen Amell, who, after five years of being stranded on a hostile island, returns home to fight crime and corruption as a secret vigilante whose weapon of choice is a bow and arrow. Unlike in the comic books, Queen does not initially go by the alias "Green Arrow".
The series takes a realistic look at the Green Arrow character, as well as other characters from the DC Comics universe. Although Oliver Queen/Green Arrow had been featured in the television series Smallville from 2006 to 2011, the producers decided to start clean and find a new actor (Amell) to portray the character. Arrow focuses on the humanity of Oliver Queen, and how he was changed by time spent shipwrecked on an island. Most episodes have flashback scenes to the island.
Arrow has received generally positive reviews from critics, and was the CW's highest-rated new series in five years. The series averaged about 3.68 million viewers over the course of the first season, and has received three awards and multiple nominations. To promote it, a preview comic book was released before the television series began, while webisodes featuring a product tie-in with Bose were developed for the second season. The first season is available on DVD and Blu-ray in regions 1, 2 and 4; a soundtrack was also released. The second season of Arrow premiered on October 9, 2013, and is available on DVD and Blu-ray in regions 1, 2 and 4. Two versions of a soundtrack have been released.
On February 13, 2014, The CW renewed the series for a third season,[2] which premiered on October 8, 2014.[3] A spin-off series set in the same universe, titled The Flash, began airing on the CW on October 7, 2014.[3]
The series follows John Diggle (David Ramsey),Felicity Smoak (Emily Bett Rickards) and Roy Harper (Colton Haynes) assist Oliver in his crusade. The first season also features flashbacks to Oliver's time on the island, and how it changed him; this continues in subsequent seasons.
In season two, Oliver is driven to stop crime without killing criminals, and comes under attack from Slade Wilson (Manu Bennett), a man from Oliver's time on the island who resurfaces with a vendetta against Oliver. Oliver must contend with outside forces attempting to take over Queen Consolidated, and continued revelations of his own past, as well as those of his family and friends. Oliver also accepts aspiring vigilante Roy Harper (Colton Haynes) as his protégé, and begins to receive assistance from Laurel's father, Officer Quentin Lance (Paul Blackthorne).
In season three, Arrow becomes a public hero in Starling City following Slade's defeat. Queen Consolidated is sold to wealthy scientist Ray Palmer (Brandon Routh), Oliver struggles to bring his family back together, an old enemy returns, and Oliver becomes embroiled into a conflict with Ra's al Ghul (Matthew Nable).
On January 12, 2012, The CW was preparing a new series centered around the character Green Arrow, developed by Andrew Kreisberg, Greg Berlanti and Marc Guggenheim.[24] A week later, the series, now known as Arrow, was ordered to pilot, which was directed by David Nutter, who also directed the pilot for Smallville, a series following Clark Kent on his journey to become Superman.[25] At the end of the month, Stephen Amell was cast in the titular role of Oliver Queen.[26] When developing the series, producer Marc Guggenheim expressed that the creative team wanted to "chart [their] own course, [their] own destiny", and avoid any direct connections to Smallville, which featured its own Green Arrow/Oliver Queen (Justin Hartley), opting to cast a new actor in the role of Oliver Queen.[4] Unlike with Smallville, the series does not initially feature super-powered heroes and villains. Instead, the creative still took inspiration from Smallville, as one of the main themes of Arrow was to "look at the humanity" of Oliver Queen, as Smallville had done with Clark Kent. The decision not to include superpowers was, in part, based on the executives' desire to take a realistic look at the characters in this universe.[27] Production on the pilot began in March 2012 in Vancouver,[28] which would continue to act as the primary filming location for the series.[4] The series' skyline shots use a combination of footage from Frankfurt, Germany, Center City, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Back Bay, Boston, and Tokyo, Japan.[29] The series was given a full season pick up on October 22, 2012.[30]
"I think the idea is to—not all the time, and not with a set regularity—but I think it is critical to explore how he went from the person that he was when he left the island—which is extremely different: he’s spoiled, he’s entitled, he’s a bit of a jerk—and he comes off it something very, very different. So we’re going to explore how he gets there."[27]
Arrow features two storylines: one in the present, and the other, shown in flashback, during Oliver's time on the island five years before his rescue. These flashbacks are used to illustrate how Oliver transformed into the man that returns to Starling City.[27] Filming for the island flashbacks takes place in Vancouver's Whytecliff Park area, near beachfront homes. Much planning is required to keep the buildings out of camera frame.[31] Guggenheim said, "Stephen [Amell] has to wear a wig, and his look has to be changed... there's a lot. It's actually incredibly ambitious to do these flashbacks every week, every single episode. Because like Andrew [Kreisberg] said, it's almost like it's its own show."[31]
The series develops relationship triangles: some love triangles, others designed to catch characters in "philosophical debates".[32] Kreisberg provides one such example: "Every week, Oliver will be facing a bad guy, but the truth is, his real nemesis is Detective Lance, who's trying to bring him into justice.[...] His daughter is going to be caught in the middle, because she loves and respects her father, and she's always believed in what he believed, but at the same time, she's going to see this dark urban legend out there that's actually doing a lot of good; the kind of good that she wants to be doing in her role as a legal aid attorney."[32] Learning from previous experiences working in television, the producers worked early on identifying the major story arcs for the series, specifically the first season, including "mapping out" how to accomplish them. Taking inspiration from Christopher Nolan's Batman film series, the creative team decided to "put it all out there" and "not hold back" from episode to episode.[32]
The team strives to include various DC Comics characters and aspects of the DC universe. Guggenheim cited Big Belly Burger, a restaurant franchise introduced in the Superman comics, which appears in Arrow's third episode and onward. Kreisberg said, "There are so many characters in the DC Universe who haven't gotten their due in TV and film. We're so excited to reach into [the DC comics] roster and take some of these lesser-known characters that are beloved by fans, and do our spin on the characters."[31]
The realistic approach to the series included the costume design for Oliver's vigilante persona, created by Colleen Atwood.[33] According to Amell, it was important for the suit to be functional, and the best way that he knew for that was if he could put the costume on by himself: "If I can put it on by myself, I think that people will buy it. And that was our idea. That’s our world."[27]
In the second half of season two, Oliver replaces his "paint" mask with a [34] Costume designer Maya Mani put together roughly 50 mask options for the producers. Kreisberg said, "What's so wonderful about the design that Maya came up with is that it really is very simple, and it feels as if it’s been part of his costume since the beginning...once we finally had this mask and put it on Stephen [Amell], even Stephen was like, 'This is the right one.'"[34] In the episode "Three Ghosts", Oliver receives the mask from Barry Allen, who is able to create a mask that will help conceal his identity, while still being functional and allowing Oliver to see clearly.[35]
To compose the score for Arrow, executive producer Greg Berlanti invited Blake Neely, with whom he had first worked with on Everwood. Neely created a score that combined electronic and orchestral cues, varying between action themes and romantic ones. According to Neely, "Of course, Oliver has his main theme but also sub-themes for the many layers of his character. He and Laurel have a love theme. Mom had a theme for the Undertaking. The bad guys all have themes, which makes it sad for me when one of them dies. So I try not to become attached to bad guy themes. Diggle has a theme. Even the Island itself has a theme."[36] A soundtrack for season one was released on September 17, 2013 by WaterTower Music.[37][38] Two versions of a soundtrack for season two was released on September 16, 2014 by WaterTower Music and La La Land Records; the compact disc release includes with two exclusive tracks not available on the digital release.[39][40]
Arrow premiered on The CW network from October 10, 2012, during the 2012–13 television season.[41][42] In Canada, the show is broadcast simultaneously on the same day as the United States.[43] The show premiered outside North America in South Africa on October 19, 2012.[44] Throughout the United Kingdom, Ireland,[45] and Latin America on Wednesday October 22, 2012.[46] In India the series premiered on January 23, 2013,[47] and in Australia on May 1, 2013.[48]
Season one received favorable reviews, with a Metacritic score of 73 out of 100, based on reviews from 25 critics, making it the highest rated CW show in five years.[49][50] Review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes calculated an approval rating of 86%, based on 35 reviews, for the first season. The site's consensus reads: "The CW nails the target with Arrow, a comic book-inspired series that benefits from cinematic action sequences, strong plotting, and intriguing characters."[51]
Mary McNamara of the Los Angeles Times called the series an interesting setup with a quality look, describing Amell as "a poster boy (no doubt literally) for the Katniss Everdeen set."[52] Brian Lowry at Variety described the series as a handsome but stiff surrogate for Batman that could benefit from sharper execution.[53] In reviewing the final episode of season one, Alasdair Wilkins of The A.V. Club gave the season as a whole a rating of B+, noting that the show "hasn’t quite figured everything out yet, but it’s had some standout episodes."[54]
Jeff Jensen of Entertainment Weekly gave the first half of season two a rating of B+, saying, "Arrow possesses an intelligence that shines through its TV-budget production values, which aren't too shabby. The writing is adult and witty, the action is exciting, and Amell holds the center with well-cultivated ease."[55] The A.V. Club 's Carrie Raisler gave the first half of season two a rating of A-. She said, "Arrow [has] officially established itself as one of the most satisfying shows on television. The most satisfying thing of all is that it did so by respecting its characters... [Arrow respects] the character’s comic-book roots in its overarching plotlines, all while using the network-appropriate soap-opera stories to do the heavy character lifting."[56]
Arrow 's premiere episode drew 4.14 million viewers, making it The CW’s most-watched telecast of any show on any night in three years, and The CW’s most-watched series premiere since The Vampire Diaries in 2009. In its second episode, Arrow became the only new network drama in the 2012–13 season to hold its ratings in both adults 18-34 and adults 18-49 from its premiere to its second week.[30]
In July 2013, it was announced that Berlanti and Kreisberg, along with Nutter and Geoff Johns, would be creating a television series based on The Flash, with an origin story for Barry Allen.[78] The character, played by actor Grant Gustin, was set to appear in three episodes of season two of Arrow, with the final one acting as a backdoor pilot for the new series.[79] However, it was announced in November 2013 that the backdoor pilot would not be happening, with a traditional pilot being made instead. The decision was made after the first two appearances of the character were well received by CW executives who saw the material. At the time, no decision was made as to whether the character would be featured in the third episode, which was set for the end of the second season and had not been written.[80] It was also confirmed that the character's superhero persona would not be featured on Arrow as originally intended, but will be saved for the pilot episode of the new series.[81] In January 2014, The Flash was officially ordered for a pilot episode.[82]
In March 2014, it was announced that Gustin would not appear in a third episode as originally planned. Instead, Danielle Panabaker and Carlos Valdes, who were cast in The Flash as S.T.A.R. Labs' Caitlin Snow and Cisco Ramon, respectively, appeared in the episode "The Man Under the Hood".[83] In May 2014, it was revealed that Amell would appear as Oliver Queen / Arrow in the series' pilot episode.[84] In June 2014, Kreisberg stated that Rickards would appear in the fourth episode of The Flash as Felicity and that a crossover event would occur in the eighth episode of the first season of The Flash and the third season of Arrow, respectively.[85] The series premiered on October 7, 2014.[3] Gustin had a brief cameo appearance in the Arrow season three premiere, "The Calm".[86]
To promote the series, DC Comics produced a 10-page preview comic for the 2012 San Diego Comic-Con, written by Kreisberg, illustrated by Omar Francia, and featuring a cover by artist Mike Grell. The comic was regarded by the production crew as sharing the same canon as the series, with Kreisberg commenting, "[For] anyone who grabs a copy: Hold onto it and as the series progresses, you'll appreciate it more and more."[87] It was later released free online.[88] On October 10, 2012, DC Comics debuted a weekly digital comic tie-in written by Kreisberg and Guggenheim and drawn by various artists, including Mike Grell, which remained in continuity with the television series.[89] The series lasted for 36 chapters, running until June 2013. These were collected, together with the initial preview comic, into Arrow: Volume 1, released in October 2013.[90][91] Titan Magazines published the comics in a physical format in the UK. The first issue was published on October 17, 2013 and contained the first four chapters of the series, with the complete series lasting 6 issues.[90][92]
A follow up to the original digital title, Arrow: Season 2.5, will be written by Guggenheim and Keto Shimizu, one of the show's executive story editors and writers, with art by Joe Bennett and Jack Jadson. Arrow 2.5 is intended to tell one continuous story across two arcs, that fits within the television narrative. Guggenheim stated, "We've tried to put in all the elements that people like about the show... We're going to see what's happened to Detective Lance after he collapsed in the season [two] finale. A good chunk of the burning questions left over will get answered in the tie-in comic. Particularly towards the latter half of the series, we're going to start introducing characters [in the comic] who you'll see in Season 3... before they show up on TV."[93] On the comic's relationship to season three of the show, Guggenheim said, "Season three is designed to stand on its own feet without requiring anyone to do any outside reading. But what the comic book will give is a deeper appreciation for some of the moments [in the show] and a more complete narrative experience. If you want to go deeper into the story, that's what Season 2.5 is for." Shimizu added that the comic also allows the writers to "accomplish things on the page that are nearly impossible to do with our production schedule and our budget", including bigger action sequences, as well as visits to locations such as Kahndaq that cannot be recreated on the show. Additionally, the series has one to two pages each issue dedicated to the Suicide Squad, leading up to their own issue later in the run.[94] The character Caleb Green, who has ties to Robert Queen, will be created specifically for the comic.[95] Guggenheim said "The goal is to end Season 2.5 basically five minutes before Season 3 begins."[96] The comic launched digitally biweekly on September 1, 2014, with its first physical release featuring a collection of the digital releases releasing on October 8.[93] The series is expected to feature 24 digital issues, which will comprise 12 physical issues.[95]
On November 6, 2013, a six-episode miniseries, titled Blood Rush, premiered alongside the broadcast of the show, as well as online. The series, which was presented by Bose, and features product placement for Bose products, was shot on location in Vancouver, similarly to the main show. The miniseries features Emily Bett Rickards, Colton Haynes and Paul Blackthorne reprising their roles of Felicity Smoak, Roy Harper and Quentin Lance, respectively.[97]
The episodes show Roy coming to Queen Consolidated to have a meeting with Oliver. As he is out, Felicity tells Roy to go wait in the lobby.[98] As Roy leaves, Officer Lance calls Felicity, telling her that the blood sample the Starling City police found on the vigilante, which Felicity destroyed, has resurfaced. Felicity then calls Roy, using Oliver's voice encoder, asking him to break in to the lab to retrieve the sample.[99] Felicity guides Roy through the lab, where he is able to recover the sample. As Roy is leaving, doctors enter the room, seemingly trapping him.[100] He notifies Felicity, who then hacks into the building's PA system, and issues an evacuation notice, giving Roy a chance to escape.[101] Roy gets out of the room before it enters into lock down, and is able to avoid two guards with the help of Felicity and exit the lab.[102] Roy returns to Queen Consolidated, and Felicity offers to mail the acquired sample for Roy as he goes in to meet with Oliver.[103]
In September 2014, The CW president Mark Pedowitz stated there was a possibility that Arrow and The Flash would exist in the same universe as TNT's Titans series, while adding, "What you’ll see embedded in Flash and Arrow is that we’ll have the ability to test characters out. Is there room to grow them into the next show? I cannot tell you yet. There are discussions going on."[104] In November 2014, Berlanti stated that the Supergirl series he is developing for CBS could also exist in the same universe as Arrow and The Flash.[105]
A Green Arrow skin based on Oliver Queen's appearance in Arrow appears in the 2013 video game Injustice: Gods Among Us as downloadable content. The playable skin was given as a bonus reward to the first 5000 voters of Injustice's promotional Battle Arena competition, but was later released as a free download. Stephen Amell lends his voice and likeness to the skin.[106]
Lego Batman 3: Beyond Gotham features an Arrow downloadable content pack that adds multiple playable characters, including Oliver Queen / Arrow; Diggle; Felicity Smoak; Helena Bertinelli / Huntress; Slade Wilson; Roy Harper; Sara Lance / Black Canary; and Malcolm Merlyn; as well as an exclusive level and vehicles. Amell voices the traditional Green Arrow in the game.[107]
DC Comics, Batman, Superman, The CW, Green Arrow
Batman, Green Arrow, Superman, Justice Society of America, Justice League
Arrow (TV series), Canada, The CW, DC Comics, Smallville
Arrow (TV series), Glee (TV series), The Flash (2014 TV series), West Side Story, Norfolk, Virginia