Ever since last fall’s “Elseworlds” event first aired, many of us had theorized that Oliver Queen would die in place of the Flash and/or Supergirl once “Crisis on Infinite Earths” rolled around. After all, the Emerald Archer and the Monitor did exchange some words off camera.
Of course, our suspicions were later confirmed during Arrow‘s seventh season finale, “You Have Saved This City.” In that, we clearly saw Ollie’s grave during one of the flash forward segments. Then again, lead actor Stephen Amell did tease his character may come out the other end alive and well, but he could’ve been trying to keep us on our toes.
Still, it’s important to stress how our source recently told us that Oliver will indeed die, but the specifics remain unclear. Backing this up during an interview with TV Guide was executive producer and showrunner Beth Schwartz, who said it’s not exactly the hero’s death itself that’s relevant, revealing why the cat was let out of the bag before the crossover:
“I think we decided to do that because it’s the story. We didn’t want that to be the shock — that he dies. And having that tease at the end of [Season] Seven, we were hoping it would bring everyone back to be like, ‘How does he die? What do you mean he dies? Does he really die?’ You know, because on our show you never really die. So we just thought that would be a great way to end the season basically… And also everyone’s theories! Because that’s the fun of watching a show and having a mystery — everyone trying to guess what’s going to happen.”
Based on how Schwartz said characters never really die, one would assume the door is being left open for Amell to play Oliver Queen in either flashbacks or as a doppelganger in future crossovers, or on other shows. Much like Supernatural, the Arrowverse always finds a way to bring back its more popular guys and gals.
If that were to happen, then Amell could definitely put a few more spins of the character. Similar to how he suited up as Dark Arrow during “Crisis on Earth-X,” he could bring the Blue Bowman introduced by Batman: The Brave and the Bold into live action. Or, if the Red Death does actually show up one day, then maybe he could be an evil Green Arrow-Flash hybrid. In the comics, that particular villain is actually a Batman-Flash amalgam from the Dark Multiverse, but I have a feeling the red tape surrounding Batman would prevent a strict adaptation.
Granted, that bit was speculation made by this fan of DC Comics, but Schwartz is quick to remind us that surprises are in store:
“Yeah, definitely. I mean, this is Arrow, so you think you know what’s going to happen, but you don’t really.”
Arrow returns with new episodes on Tuesday, October 15th on The CW.