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

4. The Show Doesn’t Shy Away From Oliver’s Killing Streak

More often that not, the golden rule of comics is that superheroes do not kill. Well, not unless there is absolutely no other alternative. And even then, the majority of heroes will refuse to go through with taking the life of another person – no matter how evil they may be.

Even in the Green Arrow books, whichever origin story has been served up over the decades, none of them have ever shown the Emerald Archer as a merciless killer. But in Arrow, the show’s first season completely and utterly embraces that and isn’t embarrassed to do so.

In the context of Arrow, it would make sense for Oliver’s five-year stint in the wilderness to result in him returning to Star(ling) City on a ruthless mission of revenge. Not only did Ollie have several stays on Lian Yu during that period, he was also trained to be a coldblooded killer by some truly despicable sorts.

Upon arriving back in his home city with a hitlist of names who had “failed this city”, this version of Oliver Queen wouldn’t just pussyfoot around and give villains a slap on the wrist. No, he’d instead just put an arrow through them in an act that he saw as these slimeballs paying their debt to the city that they’d spent years corrupting.

Despite running the risk of making their central hero look far less than heroic, Arrow embraced the vengeance and brutality that Oliver Queen would realistically have on his mind in those early days. And then, well then the show built on that and used it to project Oliver’s growth as a character as the series progressed through its next several seasons.

Andrew Pollard

Senior Writer

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.

See more from Andrew