‘Arrow’ Star Stephen Amell Teases Epic 4-Night DC Crossover Event
Arrow is taking part in a four-night crossover event in part to welcome Supergirl to its new home on The CW network and Stephen Amell, star of Arrow, is possibly more excited about the event than fans. The Arrow actor teases the crossover and reveals what fans can expect from that four-night saga, which will all fall under the management of executive producer Greg Berlanti.
Arrow Lead Stephen Amell Dishes On A Massive Crossover Event
The planned crossover will likely run on consecutive nights, leading to a thrilling week of television for DC fans, according to the Arrow star. Amell says Arrow will crossover with Supergirl, Legends of Tomorrow, and The Flash and that Berlanti will oversee the entire event. Greg Berlanti serves as executive producer for Arrow, Legends of Tomorrow, and The Flash, but he has also produced two episodes of Supergirl for CBS and will likely step up to take on Supergirl in an executive producer capacity as well.
Arrow was the primary DC Comics show on The CW at one time with the other shows spinning off from that series, so crossovers of this nature have become a yearly offering, but the addition of Supergirl allows for an even grander event. Stephen, who plays Oliver Queen (Green Arrow, himself), shared his thoughts on what fans can expect from this year’s DC collaboration.
“I think what we’ll end up seeing is one giant four-night crossover,” Amell said. “This is kind of an unprecedented moment in terms of the history of network television. To have four shows [with the] same showrunner.”
The CW network collaborated with CBS last season to bring fans a crossover with Supergirl and The Flash, but that episode explained that Supergirl (Melissa Benoist) existed in an alternate reality. While it might seem that this newly planned event may require some rewriting or a complex story arc to explain bringing the Supergirl series into the same reality as Arrow and the other two series, Stephen says it won’t be complicated at all.
“Obviously Supergirl is in a little bit of a different universe, but we can fix that. That’s one line of dialogue and it’s all fixed,” says the Arrow actor. “So I would suspect Oliver will be meeting Supergirl at some point.”
Arrow Producers Talk About The Possibility Of Exploring Oliver’s Past
In the past, Arrow has dropped clues to Oliver’s past and revealed that the character played by Amell is connected to Russia in some way. Those clues were enigmatic at best, a tattoo and Oliver’s ability to speak the Russian language, but they were just enough to pique the interest of Arrow fans. Season 5 of the series will give fans a better look into Oliver’s past, say Arrow producers.
“It’s a very good possibility that we’ll finally find out how he got that Bratva tattoo and how he learned to speak Russian,” teased Arrow executive producer Wendy Mericle.
The Arrow showrunner couldn’t be compelled to reveal just how much fans will learn about Oliver’s past or what that might have to do with the current season’s story arc, but she did reveal that Arrow would also be looking back at the very beginning of the series.
“When Oliver says, ‘No one can know my secret’ and he kills that guy in the pilot, we’re going to get some insight into that,” Mericle says.
While flashbacks haven’t been met with enthusiasm by Arrow fans, the series showrunners promise the planned looks back at Oliver’s past will be more adventurous and more exciting than the sometimes confusing flashbacks of past episodes.
“The problem is that we are telling a five-year story in the flashbacks of Oliver becoming the guy you met in the pilot,” executive producer Marc Guggenheim said. “So the deeper you get into the flashbacks, the closer he becomes to being that guy, and, thus, you lose that element of the flashbacks that was so interesting, which is how different he was… That’s something we have struggled with this year.”
Arrow will debut Season 5 on October 5 on The CW network.
[Image by CW]
