TV

Green Arrow Year One # 4

The CW recently announced that a pilot for a Green Arrow show was in the works and attached to the project as writers and Executive Producers are the writers of 2011's The Green Lantern-Marc Guggenheim, Greg Berlanti, and Andrew Kreisberg who was once wrote Green Arrow. Now having Guggenheim and Berlanti on this project has me a bit worried because they really didn't handle Green Lantern all that well and he really is a very straightforward character. It should have been a simple task to make a Green Lantern movie but they didn't really do that great of a job and to make matters worse, neither did Martin Campbell whom I wouldn't have expected to even helm a Green Lantern film.

Now I'm one of those fans that would like it to be a Smallville spin off primarily because the character worked so well on that show and Justin Hartley was such a great choice. I loved Tom Welling as Clark Kent but if Justin Hartley had been the star as Green Arrow, I'd still have watched. I still think Hartley should have been Aquaman as well but the Pilot never got picked for a full season by the CW. If they want to go with an actor who is older than I suggest Joe Flanigan from Stargate Atlantis. He may not be blond but I still think he'd be an awesome Oliver Queen. If Chris Hemsworth wasn't so busy as Thor I'd suggest him and would rather see him as Green Arrow because personally I find Thor to be completely boring as a hero.

At this point we don't know if Black Canary is going to be in it but I can hardly imagine a Green Arrow show without her because she's such an integral part of the character's history. When more info comes out about this show, then I can update this because we really don't know exactly what this show is going to be like. It's supposedly going to be loosely based on the comics so as of now, I can't make any other casting choices until more details arrive.

Oliver Queen

The CW isn't looking at Hartley for the role even though he's expressed interest in doing it many times over the past couple years. They've been discussing handing Green Arrow his own show now for some time and Hartley is definitely the best choice for the role. I don't know why they don't want the show to be connected with Smallville because Smallville was a big success for them and it helped make The CW a popular network. Hartley should still play the role but I guess we're not going to see him reprise the role.

I also have to say Joe Flanigan is perfect for the role. He's not blond and isn't anything like Justin Hartley but I just think he could really pull it off quite well. He's well adapted to action roles as he was on Stargate: Atlantis as Lt. Col John Sheppard for five seasons. Ollie is quite frequently shown to be somewhat older than most heroes although currently he isn't but nobody cares about that version because DC seems to have lost all respect for the character. He isn't Bruce Wayne and that's what makes him different from Wayne and Tony Stark. He fights for the little guy and doesn't generally handle the big stuff. However as much as I like him I don't see him getting the role.

And then there is Lost's Josh Holloway. He's easily the best choice next to Justin Hartley and represents the other version of Green Arrow; the one we comic book fans all know and love. This is not Green Arrow, THIS IS. He's my second choice for the role and even though Lost literally had me Lost, I still think he'd be a great Green Arrow. Only problem is the guy is over 35 and just about nobody who is that age can get a show on The CW.

I suppose you could say an unknown would be the best way to go but I don't know if the CW wants somebody that isn't already an established actor. It would certainly be cheaper to go the route of choosing an unknown but I still think Hartley is the best possible choice for the show. I hope they throw in some of the Green Arrow family characters like Connor Hawke, Black Canary, and maybe even Roy Harper.

On 1/31/2012, The CW announced they casted Stephen Amell in the role of Oliver Queen.

Black Canary

Black Canary has to be in this, she just can't really be left out because she's such an integral part of the character's history. For the role I think Katee Sackhoff of Battlestar Galactica should play her. Next to Dr. Gaius Baltar, her character-Lt. Kara Thrace AKA Starbuck was my favorite even though I hated her guts for the most part. Sackhoff embodies the role in every way, she extremely sexy and can kick ass when necessary. Starbuck was an extremely tough character and Black Canary shouldn't be too difficult for Sackhoff to play.

Only problems I for see is whether or not she'd be able to play the character. She'll be busy on the new Chronicles of Riddick film but I think she might be able to squeeze in some time to play Black Canary in this pilot. If the pilot isn't picked up, all right but if it is I guess they'll probably need another actress to play the character because Sackhoff will be too busy with her own show and Riddick.

I think Paul Bettany would be a fun choice. He's been on a tear lately flushing his career cache down the toilet with comic booky type movies that happened to be awful. And I'm trying to imagine a face that can pull off that mustache. I think he could work. He's not a young buck but I feel like this character works better with some set in middleaged wrinkles. Adds a bit of character, as opposed to casting some boy and gluing on the beard. That's not the direction they'll go, because this is clearly a project where, like Smallville, the superhero antics act merely as window dressing to recycle Aaron Spelling style teen "drama" standards. So they'll go young. Some Channing Tatum looking fucker but 8 years younger.

I would love it if this show actually happened. I loved him on Smallville and I thought Justin Hartley was fine so I wish they would bring him back but I would also like someone that can grow a good blonde beard....but anyways I would just be happy enough if they actually go through with the show.

Justin Hartley was some of the best casting that Smallville had in it's entire ten season. With the aside of Michael Rosenbaum as Lex Luthor and Erica Durance as Lois Lane, I'd actually go so far as to say that he was the absolute best casting in that entire show.

CW should absolutely bank off the success that they had from Smallville and cast Justin Hartley as Green Arrow. He was perfection in that role and it'd pull in a whole lot of Smallville's fanbase. Not to mention how he's expressed interest in the role and has a history with CW as a superhero (he played Aquaman in a pilot episode for a show titled Mercy Reef, which funnily enough, was itself a spin off from Smallville).

Whether they're doing a spin off (which it seems most apparent that they aren't, no matter how much I wish that they are), he is an amazing Green Arrow. I think they'd be doing a disservice to fans of the character in not casting him. But at the same time, because it's not a spin off, I understand that they may not necessarily want that baggage of having an actor who played the role previously. I just hope they do the character justice.

I love Justin Hartley, but maybe it is good for them to change the casting a bit, if they keep him it'll feel like they'll have to keep in continuity the whole time which could be hard, especially if they want to focus more on his younger days as well, Justin Hartley is 34.

I do hope he is cast though! - I'd like to see them

Matt Barr would be a good replacement, he always reminds me a lot of Justin Hartley humour-wise.

@courtney12490 said:

Justin Hartley was some of the best casting that Smallville had in it's entire ten season. With the aside of Michael Rosenbaum as Lex Luthor and Erica Durance as Lois Lane, I'd actually go so far as to say that he was the absolute best casting in that entire show.

CW should absolutely bank off the success that they had from Smallville and cast Justin Hartley as Green Arrow. He was perfection in that role and it'd pull in a whole lot of Smallville's fanbase. Not to mention how he's expressed interest in the role and has a history with CW as a superhero (he played Aquaman in a pilot episode for a show titled Mercy Reef, which funnily enough, was itself a spin off from Smallville).

Whether they're doing a spin off (which it seems most apparent that they aren't, no matter how much I wish that they are), he is an amazing Green Arrow. I think they'd be doing a disservice to fans of the character in not casting him. But at the same time, because it's not a spin off, I understand that they may not necessarily want that baggage of having an actor who played the role previously. I just hope they do the character justice.

Having Green Arrow become a major character is what made me a big fan of Smallville. I always thought Hartley was a brilliant choice for the role. They went against how Green Arrow had been in the comics and made him younger and it worked. I loved him as Aquaman but I thought Alan Ritchson did a great job as the character. I still want an Aquaman spin off but with Ritchson since he doesn't really do anything these days I think. I don't know if they can do justice to the character with the writers who are writing the pilot but David Nutter might direct and that guy has directed seventeen pilots, sixteen of which have been picked up for full series including Smallville, Supernatural, and The X-Files. That's kind of made me a little more hopeful about this project.