Stephen Amell’s recent comments sparked an interesting debate. But here’s why future Green Arrow stories won’t include any original Arrow characters.

Arrow has been a mainstay of network television for almost six years. The superhero series is based on DC Comics character Oliver Queen and his late night escapades as Star City vigilante, the Green Arrow. Starring Stephen Amell as the Emerald Archer, this was the first time that the character headlined his own series. And the show made a huge impact, introducing him to a whole new audience while kickstarting The CW’s Arrowverse.

As expected with such a show, it utilizes the rich selection of characters from the Green Arrow comics. But it has also been commended for introducing some original characters, such as John Diggle and Felicity Smoak. It isn’t the first time a superhero show has done this, but it definitely got people talking. Furthermore, it was great to see these characters play such a vital role on the show. But the Green Arrow himself thinks they could play an even bigger role after the show ends.

In an interview with Australian publication The Music, Amell commented on the show’s impact and how he hopes that its legacy will affect the Green Arrow’s future. He stated:

“One of the things that I’m most proud about is that, 25 years from now, if they made a Green Arrow film, they would have to make it with John Diggle and Felicity Smoak and Thea Queen and Sara Lance and a lot of the characters that we’ve brought in and have created… I hope that not only do those characters start to exist in the comic books if they haven’t already – and some of them have – but I would hope that if you were looking at the blueprint of how to do a successful Arrow show, people would be like, ‘Yeah, you have to have those characters – those characters are a part of it now.”

The comment caused a debate on social media with the vast majority opposing Amell’s view. While some believe that the actors’ interpretations of these characters could never be replicated, others were totally against ever seeing these characters again. It appears that the feedback made its way back to Amell because he would expand upon his beliefs further in a tweet.

Just read a bunch of stuff on Twitter about people complaining that I think characters our show has created are now integral to the Green Arrow canon going forward. Well, they are. So get over it. — Stephen Amell (@StephenAmell) June 17, 2018

Amell is certainly correct in thinking that Arrow created some compelling original characters. However, it’s understandable that his comments have caused a divide among fans. The Green Arrow canon functioned well long before these characters appeared on TV. Does Arrow really change that?

With that in mind, let’s take a look at why these original Arrow characters are not integral to the Green Arrow canon and will likely not be included in future adaptations.

A Green Arrow adaptation would want to make its own impact

As with any remake or retelling, the producers of a future Green Arrow movie would want their adaptation to stand on its own two feet. The only way to definitively do that would be to distance their iteration from aspects unique to others. The characters of Sara Lance, John Diggle, Felicity Smoak and Thea Queen were all made household names by Arrow. While some of them are based on comic book characters and others are entirely original, they are always going to be associated with the show. And as a result, they are always going to be associated with their respective actor’s portrayal.

A future film or TV series will be tasked with the job of kickstarting its own universe. It effectively has to tell the viewer why we should be watching it, while showing us what it has to offer. So, it’s highly unlikely that it would focus on any characters made famous by a previous adaptation. After all, if it didn’t live up to the Arrow portrayal, it could automatically be written off by fans — and that’s a risk that any writer or producer would want to shy away from.

That doesn’t necessarily mean that it wouldn’t be laced with a few Easter Eggs here and there (because comic book fans love Easter Eggs). But it would definitely want to steer clear from a cheap attempt to recreate another’s success. So, while it could pay tribute to what came before, those characters would not be essential to the storyline — simply because they’ll always be unique to Arrow.

Some original characters were responsible for Arrow’s decline

Though Arrow began as a show that every comic book adaptation should aspire to be like, its momentum quickly died off midway through its third season. Important storylines and years of character development were forsaken in favor of melodramatic romance angles — which only got worse in the show’s reviled fourth season. And unfortunately, almost all of these major problems revolved around the show’s original characters.

Felicity Smoak had been Team Arrow’s reliable tech-girl with an incredible IQ and a wicked personality. But by Season 4, she had become Oliver’s main love interest and the show began to revolve around her. Though this may have once seemed ideal, this was not the same Felicity that we fell in love with. She had become sanctimonious and judgmental and the writers continued to feed this, wasting an important plot development (her regaining the ability to walk) on a soap-operatic storm-out. While all this was happening, John Diggle was busy recycling previous mistakes and blaming others for them. Suddenly, the show had become something else — and not in a good way.

Somewhere along the line, Arrow‘s showrunners decided that these original characters were more important to the narrative than the source material. As a result, the melodramatic fourth season also saw the death of Dinah Laurel Lance — the Black Canary (and Green Arrow’s primary love interest). This came after Laurel suffered a long line of injustices at the hands of the writers. The showrunners’ previous decisions to debut the Canary mantle on Laurel’s sister Sara, and pawn off her fated love interest (Oliver) on Felicity made these original personalities seem more important than the actual integral Green Arrow characters — which is, of course, preposterous.

The death of a major comic book character and the relationship between Oliver and Felicity made it appear that Arrow didn’t care about the comic book canon. Aside from the Green Arrow, the only other character that a future film/show would “have to” include is the Black Canary. And since Arrow wasn’t kind to the canon’s creation, it begs the question: Why should the canon be kind to its creations?

Season 4 had such a negative impact on the show that the ratings plummeted after Laurel’s death. Despite the fact that the show eventually got back on track, the ratings never recovered. And although Oliver and Felicity provided us with plenty of memorable moments, the mere mention of the word “Olicity” is enough to make sure that some fans will never return to the show.

So it’s safe to say that the producers of a future Green Arrow adaptation would shy away from including any of Arrow‘s original characters, simply out of fear of the negative associations. While certain creations were successful (Legends of Tomorrow‘s Sara Lance), the focus on others ended up turning a lot of comic book fans against the show. And since comic book fans will undoubtedly be the core audience of any future Green Arrow films, the powers-that-be wouldn’t take the risk of alienating them.

As great as the likes of John Diggle and Felicity Smoak truly are, they are not an integral part of the Green Arrow’s canon. David Ramsey and Emily Bett Rickards’s outstanding portrayals will live on in TV history forever, but that doesn’t mean that future films or comic books will ever consider them canon. Had the events of Season 3 and 4 not suggested that these characters were more important than the actual comic book mainstays, then perhaps we’d have a different story on our hands. But they are creations unique to only Arrow. Moreover, it’s likely that any future Green Arrow adaptation (be it film, TV show or comic books) will want to distance itself from previous adaptations — especially its mistakes.

Arrow is currently on its summer hiatus. It will return to The CW in October, airing on Mondays at 9:00 p.m. ET. Do you think these original characters will feature in future adaptations? Will they ever be considered canon? Let us know in the comments section below!