‘Arrow’, Which Launched the CW’s ‘Arrowverse’, Will End Later This Year

After 8 years, Arrow, the show that basically gave the CW its identity as the network for DC shows based on properties they don’t think will work as movies, is ending later this year after a 10 episode eighth season which will probably culminate with the long-awaited Crisis on Infinite Earths crossover that was foreshadowed in this year’s Elseworlds crossover, which implied Oliver will sacrifice himself to save The Flash and Supergirl.

Arrow star Stephen Amell delivered the news on an emotional Facebook Live stream.

It sounds to me like Amell wanted to leave and even though Arrow has been auditioning various replacements for him, such as Colton Haynes’ Roy Harper and Sea Shimooka’s Emiko Queen, Oliver’s younger sister and the current Green Arrow, the higher-ups weren’t willing to hand over the reigns of the show to a new star and chose to end it instead.

Arrow has been of very uneven quality over the years, and never really recovered after a disastrous third season. But Arrow has been important in a lot of ways, and not just to the CW. For starters, there may never have been a Suicide Squad movie without Arrow, as the virtually unknown team was given a run on the show to test the waters for a movie based on them. It also introduced an important original character who would become an unlikely love interest for Oliver Queen due to the undeniable chemistry between Amell and actress Caity Lotz. Yes, Sara Lance, the Arrowverse’s first Black Canary, now White Canary on CW’s Legends of Tomorrow, didn’t have a counterpart in the Green Arrow comics. Also, for some reason Oliver ended up married to a supporting character from Firestorm.

What does the Arrowverse look like without Arrow, though? Should we start calling it the Flashverse? I expect this means Ruby Rose’s Batwoman is even more likely to be picked up, but Grant Gustin’s Flash is very likely going to be the unquestioned center of the CW’s superhero universe now.

Even though everything happening right now is pointing to Amell’s Green Arrow being killed off, he says that he’s open to reprising the role after Arrow ends. It seems likely that if his character does survive the end of the show, we could still see him taking part in the annual crossover year after year. And that’s not a bad deal. Plus you can watch those season 2 blu-rays from when the show was still great anytime.