9 Problems Nobody Wants To Admit About The Arrowverse

by Ewan Paterson

1. Arrow Has Nothing To Say, And No Way Of Saying It

Arrow Oliver Mayor
The CW

You'd be hard pressed to find a comic that didn't at least have something to say. The medium, all the way through to the Second World War, has always made an effort to make a statement, whether it be by preaching the virtues of assaulting your average Nazi, taking a stance in regards to the Civil Rights Movement, the move for Marriage Equality or - certainly in the seventies at least - by focusing on two hard-travelling heroes as they toured Nixon's America.

The two heroes in question were Green Arrow and Green Lantern, and the comic, written by Denny O'Neil and drawn by Neal Adams, was revolutionary for its time. Political, challenging and compelling, Green Lantern/Green Arrow was the book that defined Oliver Queen in the twentieth century, leaving the Bat-comparisons in the dust and pushing DC into a whole new era of storytelling.

Queen has since become DC's veritable left-wing icon - it's intrinsically embedded in the character's DNA, visually as it is thematically apparent. Heck, even Justice League: Unlimited made a point of portraying the character's politics, and it's a cartoon!

And yet Arrow still shirks this dynamic, exemplifying its apathy by Having Queen run for Mayor with no platform to stand on. He just... runs, says nothing, and goes about his business.

In truth, this would be laughable save for the important fact that Arrow's silence is indicative of a conservative mindset; audiences are genuinely investing in a character they'd have no business with if they walked into a store and picked up any of his comics.

It's a massive distortion of one of the medium's most powerful icons, and while the show can create the illusion of social commentary anytime it likes, it's incredibly easy to see through.

Are there any other problems with the Arrowverse? Be sure to let us know in the comments below and, before you do, be sure to check out both WhatCulture TV and WhatCulture Comics on Twitter. They're good Tweets, Bront.

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Content Producer/Presenter

WhatCulture's very own resident movie guy, Ewan has been working in the content creation biz for over 10 years now, having started as a freelance contributor to WhatCulture Gaming all the way back in 2015. After graduating with a First-Class Honours in History from Northumbria University in 2017 (where he won a prize for a totally killer dissertation on the Watergate years), Ewan took on the role of Comics Editor at WhatCulture and quickly developed WhatCulture Comics into one of the biggest superhero-focused channels on YouTube. He followed this with a brief hiatus at Screen Rant in 2021, where he worked across the Gaming and Film sections as a writer and editor, before returning to WhatCulture as a Senior Content Producer / Presenter in 2023. He started his own podcast, We Love Dad Movies, in 2022, and has contributed several written pieces to the Eisner-nominated comics website Shelfdust as well. In his current role, Ewan incorporates his love of cinema, comic books, and history into written pieces and video essays for WhatCulture's Film & TV channel, as well as WhatCulture Gaming and WhatCulture Horror, with a particular focus on nineties-era Dad Movies, old school Westerns, and Golden Age Hollywood Noir. John Carpenter is his fave, and he thinks Batman Beyond should never have been cancelled. If that's your vibe, you'll probably like his stuff.