DC Comics-inspired 'Arrow' wraps up its eight-season run on The CW
The CW is going to have to find a new name for its Arrowverse.
Especially when the network's DC Comics-inspired superhero shows are united in a crossover story, the series that got the ball rolling has been the identifying touchstone for the whole group. However, “Arrow” ends its eight-season run with an all-night event Tuesday, Jan. 28 ... so “Flashverse” and “Supergirlverse” may be getting behind-the-scenes tryouts as potential replacement phrases.
The concluding “Arrow” story will be preceded by a retrospective hour, reason for title star Stephen Amell to have plenty of reflections on his tenure as Oliver Queen, the billionaire who masquerades as the justice-seeking vigilante known as Green Arrow.
“It's been really emotional,” Amell allows of ending the series. “Every episode feels like we're trying to put a button on a certain part of the show. I've gotten a chance to work with actors and characters that I haven't had a chance to work with in a bunch of years. Every day, knowing that there was an end in sight ... despite the fact that they got offers for shows that are filming 22 episodes this year, our entire crew came back for 10 episodes. Every day that I've walked on set, I just think about how lucky I am to have had this opportunity.”
Co-star Katie Cassidy - who plays Laurel Lance/Black Canary - directed one of the final-season episodes, as did David Ramsey, alias Queen's ally John Diggle. Cassidy figures into a potential “Arrow” spinoff, previewed in the next-to-last episode, that also would see Katherine McNamara and Juliana Harkavy continue their roles.
Ramsey appeared as New York's mayor on CBS' “Blue Bloods” for a while, and he reveals, “That was a big reason why I got 'Arrow,' because Greg (executive producer Berlanti) and his father were big fans of 'Blue Bloods.' And he saw me as Mayor Poole and was like, 'That's John Diggle.'”
Marc Guggenheim, a founding “Arrow” executive producer and one of its frequent writers, reasons, “I think every show has a natural end date. And one thing that we always talked about was that we didn't want to be that show that stays too long at the party.
“One of the things that I think we're all very proud of is the fact that people still talk about the show,” notes Guggenheim. “I remember the seventh-season finale was trending on Twitter the night we aired. That doesn't happen all that often, and I think we all would much prefer to go out on a high note rather than being like, 'That show's still on the air?'”
“Arrow”
A retrospective airs at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 28, followed by the one-hour series finale on The CW