6 Times Arrow Improved Green Arrow Mythology (& 4 Times It Failed)

by Andrew Pollard

1. It Reiterated That Green Arrow Is Batman-Lite

Arrow Season 8 Batman Mask
The CW

With Stephen Amell’s Oliver Queen, The CW and Warner Bros. TV gave audiences one of the greatest characters in the history of DC TV projects. After a slightly ropey start in the first season, Amell grew into the Oliver role and has worn it like a second skin throughout the show’s eight seasons.

Even though Amell has been fantastic, the eight seasons of Arrow have managed to hammer home the point that Green Arrow is Batman-lite. No superpowers? Check. Millions of dollars at his disposal? Check. Dead parents? Check. A rotating roster of sidekicks at his disposal? Check. Playboy lifestyle? Check.

Of course, elements of those points have altered over the years – Ollie putting paid to his playboy lifestyle by marrying Felicity Smoak, his millions of dollars being lost, etc etc – yet the basic characteristics of the Master Bowman for so much of Arrow’s run has seen him being depicted as a Batman wannabe.

To make things worse on this front, Arrow has utilised a whole host of villains usually associated with the Caped Crusader during its eight seasons. From Ra’s al Ghul, to Deadshot, to Firefly, to Anarky, to Dollmaker, to Clock King, and so many more, Arrow’s use of Bat-foes again hit home to audiences that one of the main reasons we even got Arrow as a show is because Warner Bros. wouldn’t agree to a straight-up Batman series being made.

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Senior Writer
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Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main dayjob, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg.