If you’re an Arrowverse fan or just someone who uses social media, you’ve probably seen that Oliver Queen grave meme. You know, the one where Grant Gustin is posing with a big grin and flashing the peace sign by Green Arrow’s headstone. It’s a genuine set pic from filming on the Arrow series finale, and it’s permanently going viral in new ways as it’s such a perfect meme format.
But it turns out that the Emerald Archer himself does not appreciate its popularity. Yet another take of the meme went around on Twitter this week following the much-discussed Facebook blackout, with Gustin representing Twitter mocking the Facebook sites that went down. Arrow star Stephen Amell quote-tweeted the photo, though, with a pretty heated response. “Could everyone who repurposes this photo kindly f–k off.”
The responses to Amell’s unexpected reaction have been mixed. Some people agreed with the actor and felt the original photo in the first place was disrespectful.
Alternatively, others accused Amell of being overly sensitive while some warned him that his reaction was only going to encourage more memes.
The prophecy is fulfilled.
Meanwhile, fellow Arrowverse star, Supergirl‘s Nicole Maines, continued to see the funny side, replying with a crying laughing emoji.
Though he left The CW’s DC franchise behind at the beginning of last year, Amell is still clearly very protective over his character and continues to feel a strong connection to him. In fact, the actor surprised fans recently by pitching an Arrow revival. Specifically, a streaming miniseries that would allow him to play the role while balancing other projects, like wrestling drama Heels.
This isn’t something that’s actually been commissioned, however. That said, the legacy of Arrow lives on as Kat McNamara is returning as Oliver’s daughter Mia in The Flash season 8’s big opening event “Armageddon”, which kicks off on The CW from November 16th.