Green Arrow series in the works at The CW

[Rockstar]

Based on what they've said so far, my guess is that there will be NO superpowers or magic.



It will be a Bourne-inspired realistic take, going the opposite direction of the Smallville version.

 

[Manic]

Based on what they've said so far, my guess is that there will be NO superpowers or magic.



It will be a Bourne-inspired realistic take, going the opposite direction of the Smallville version.

They aren't mutually exclusive concepts, though.

 

[Rockstar]

I think we could use a big break from superpowers anyway:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M0VzaNE1AF8


After 10 years of that, realism sounds good.

 

[Savage]

I have NBC and CBS for realism. I want a superhero show.

 

[Rockstar]

And yet the two best superhero films ever made are grounded in realism.


Green Arrow seems like such a perfect fit for this approach. Especially considering the limitations of a television budget, this approach is ideal.

It might be what the show needs to legitimately build an audience and some credibility.

 

[Prison Mike]

Realism is overrated.

 

[Savage]

And yet the two best superhero films ever made are grounded in realism.


Green Arrow seems like such a perfect fit for this approach. Especially considering the limitations of a television budget, this approach is ideal.

It might be what the show needs to legitimately build an audience and some credibility.

That's a matter of opinion considering I wouldn't put those with my favorite comic films of Blade II, Hellboy, Scott Pilgrim, Watchmen, and X-men: First Class. I didn't say it wouldn't be successful. Just that if I wanted realism I'd watch Criminal Minds or NCIS or something.

Green Arrow is a perfect character for this approach but I hope that doesn't rule out things like the Canary Cry and guys like Brick being who they are. If people like having Batman get his rogues gallery sacrificed for the purpose of looking like Heat in a costume then great for them. I just know that's not why I read comic books. In the meantime animated superhero TV and straight to DVD will continue to be better than most live action outings in my book.

 

[Webhead2006]

Just cause they say it will be like a realistic bornue like thing. Could easily just mean that is the shooting style and why ollie fights bare fists/weapons and other skills to take out. That doesn't outright mean oh there will be no supers/meta/magic and all that. Like I said the best option would be leave the door open, and like I said those things exist but no magic/metas/aliens have gone public, so the masses think its not real. Bbut they are there in the shadows. So we could bring in logical meta powered folks and maybe down the road a magic threat.

 

[gugumugats]

I think I'll advocate realism for this Green Arrow show. Birds of Prey really looked cheesy with their metahuman threats. Then again Heroes/No Ordinary Family/Smallville kinda kinda pulled it off.

I think there would be room for some metahuman/magic threats in Green Arrow, but I think they should be downplayed to a certain level. I hope the fight scenes don't suck (again, bad memories from Birds of Prey). The only reference I could think of for an action-oriented show is Nikita, but I don't watch that show. How are the fight scenes in Nikita?

 

[solidsnake86]

Green Arrow is a perfect character for this approach but I hope that doesn't rule out things like the Canary Cry and guys like Brick being who they are. If people like having Batman get his rogues gallery sacrificed for the purpose of looking like Heat in a costume then great for them. I just know that's not why I read comic books. In the meantime animated superhero TV and straight to DVD will continue to be better than most live action outings in my book.

If Nolan's batman is sacrificing the villains, well then I'm glad he's doing it. Joker, two-face, scarecrow, are as human as you get in terms of villains. But like you said that's your opinion, I just disagree when I feel like that is probably one of the best portrayals of the joker in any medium.

I'm not a fan of the meta human stuff, its to x-men-y for me, and if I want mutants I'll go read x-men.

I think a balance is the best approach, and I've said before spider-man does it well. Sure his villains are outlandish, but they are science experiments gone wrong. I think you provide an explanation for the powers it makes it realistic even though the powers aren't.

That being said I dont want all the villains having no powers at all, that gets boring real fast. There are only so many assassin characters you can have before they all sound the same.
Take brick for instance, instead of being a meta human, why not have him with some skin disease or accident.

Being meta human creates a whole host of problems that could be there own series, like x-men and heroes. Considering the main character is human it just feels like it wouldnt be given the proper attention.

 

[Destructus86]

And yet the two best superhero films ever made are grounded in realism.


Green Arrow seems like such a perfect fit for this approach. Especially considering the limitations of a television budget, this approach is ideal.

It might be what the show needs to legitimately build an audience and some credibility.

Iron Man and Thor?

 

[Rockstar]

Iron Man and Thor? Hahaha.

That's hilarious.

 

[Savage]

If Nolan's batman is sacrificing the villains, well then I'm glad he's doing it. Joker, two-face, scarecrow, are as human as you get in terms of villains. But like you said that's your opinion, I just disagree when I feel like that is probably one of the best portrayals of the joker in any medium.

I'm not a fan of the meta human stuff, its to x-men-y for me, and if I want mutants I'll go read x-men.

I think a balance is the best approach, and I've said before spider-man does it well. Sure his villains are outlandish, but they are science experiments gone wrong. I think you provide an explanation for the powers it makes it realistic even though the powers aren't.

That being said I dont want all the villains having no powers at all, that gets boring real fast. There are only so many assassin characters you can have before they all sound the same.
Take brick for instance, instead of being a meta human, why not have him with some skin disease or accident.

Being meta human creates a whole host of problems that could be there own series, like x-men and heroes. Considering the main character is human it just feels like it wouldnt be given the proper attention.

I think ignoring Batman's metahuman villains and just plain weird stories is taking the easy way out. It's specifically choosing one part of the mythos that you like and ignoring the rest. Being a Batman fan I can accept that but very few mediums have been able to transfer the Batman that I know to the screen. Batman is not just part Sherlock Holmes but part Zorro and part James Bond. He has grown to be not just a detective but a full fledged superhero in that he deals with super villains. No super villains, no superhero. While I may appreciate Nolan's movies there is a reason that Bruce Timm's Batman is the definitive Batman for most people. It's just a shame that guys like Mr. Freeze and Clayface won't see the big screen until a complete reboot is done because "Weird villains are too hard".

I like Nolan's movies as a fan of movies. They tell great stories and are very well made. As a fan of Batman, however, I can't help but feel like only half of the character has been showcased in any of the live action features.

As for Green Arrow, the few metahumans that he does deal with are easy enough to bring to the small screen and easier to explain than any of Batman's rogues and partners. I just hope that their approach to the show doesn't rule out cameos from other superheroes in the future. Smallville may have started with "No tights, no flights" but they quickly retconned that to just mean Clark. Everybody else wore tights and flew and it was pretty awesome so hey, throw in some Barry Allen Flash as a CSI for a few eps and I'll be happy. Question and Huntress are others I can see appearing and they don't even have super powers.

 

[Webhead2006]

And that is another reason I like them to leave the door open. So there is other threats and characters who can pop up. Just looking at most of ga threats they are assian base, a few tech base like vertigo, and the raare meta. They would have to branch out in time if the show is success, so you can expand the world/characters and threats ollie has to take down. I for one would be pissed if all he goes after episode per episode is normal crooks and corrupt polications and all that. Tossing in a meta or magic just ups the anty for ollie to over come with his wits.

 

[Savage]

Just cause they say it will be like a realistic bornue like thing. Could easily just mean that is the shooting style and why ollie fights bare fists/weapons and other skills to take out. That doesn't outright mean oh there will be no supers/meta/magic and all that. Like I said the best option would be leave the door open, and like I said those things exist but no magic/metas/aliens have gone public, so the masses think its not real. Bbut they are there in the shadows. So we could bring in logical meta powered folks and maybe down the road a magic threat.

I agree.

I think I'll advocate realism for this Green Arrow show. Birds of Prey really looked cheesy with their metahuman threats. Then again Heroes/No Ordinary Family/Smallville kinda kinda pulled it off.

I think there would be room for some metahuman/magic threats in Green Arrow, but I think they should be downplayed to a certain level. I hope the fight scenes don't suck (again, bad memories from Birds of Prey). The only reference I could think of for an action-oriented show is Nikita, but I don't watch that show. How are the fight scenes in Nikita?

Nikita is pretty awesome with the fight choreography and action in general. It's actually why I started watching. Maggie Q is an excellent martial artist. I'm hoping that Green Arrow will be as good as Nikita but leave the door open for heroes and villains popping up from other cities. I've always thought the Green Arrow books would make for a better TV series than a movie. I hope to see exactly that. Ollie losing his money, Ollie adopting a sidekick, Ollie the social activist, Ollie the family man, I'm hoping for a big character arc with this guy that results in the dynamic of the books.

Too bad there's no way they can get Hal in there for a road trip. TV special effects just aren't that advanced yet. I won't be disappointed if Green Arrow goes the realistic Batman route. I won't boycott the show and scream nerdrage. I just see a lot of potential in DC's stable of characters that I hope to see realized one day the way that Marvel is getting it. These characters are unique and have endured the test of time on the printed page and shouldn't have to be anything but their usual awesome selves. I understand adaption and compromise but some people forget why comic book characters are so awesome to begin with and keep saying "Let's make a show like that other thing." No, how about we make a show like this character.

 

[Airwings]

Savage: Please, no Barry Allen Flash!

I said, give us Jay Garrick

 

[Savage]

And that is another reason I like them to leave the door open. So there is other threats and characters who can pop up. Just looking at most of ga threats they are assian base, a few tech base like vertigo, and the raare meta. They would have to branch out in time if the show is success, so you can expand the world/characters and threats ollie has to take down. I for one would be pissed if all he goes after episode per episode is normal crooks and corrupt polications and all that. Tossing in a meta or magic just ups the anty for ollie to over come with his wits.

Completely agreed. Overall I'm getting pretty excited and anxious to see just where they're going with this.

 

[Savage]

Savage: Please, no Barry Allen Flash!

I said, give us Jay Garrick

Jay Garrick's a guy I associate with the golden age and I guess I can just see a CSI coming in to solve a case and happening to be the speedster Flash and forming a strong friendship with Green Arrow. Jay Garrick would still be interesting but why him?

 

[Rockstar]

I won't be disappointed if Green Arrow goes the realistic Batman route. I won't boycott the show and scream nerdrage. I just see a lot of potential in DC's stable of characters that I hope to see realized one day the way that Marvel is getting it.

They already did that, for better or worse, with Smallville.

It just sucked.


There's really no point doing that approach again with this series.

 

[Airwings]

Savage: Because Jay has a different appearance than the other Flashes, almost like a different character, and Barry Allen could soon be getting a film of his own.
That's why I also want Alan Scott here, over Hal and the others.

 

[Savage]

They already did that, for better or worse, with Smallville.

It just sucked.


There's really no point doing that approach again with this series.

When I say that I don't mean a show ABOUT the stable of characters per se. Just acknowledging that this is a superhero and weird crap will happen to him every now and then both on the side of the villains and the heroes. I don't like seeing an expanded universe as just this optional thing. It's a part of what makes comics great and referencing other characters doesn't mean making the show about those characters like a lot of people seem to think.

I've never really liked the approach of taking this one fantastic thing (the superhero) and placing him in our mundane world. It's like taking a knight and putting him here to fight thugs when we want to see him fight dragons.

 

[gugumugats]

When I say that I don't mean a show ABOUT the stable of characters per se. Just acknowledging that this is a superhero and weird crap will happen to him every now and then both on the side of the villains and the heroes. I don't like seeing an expanded universe as just this optional thing. It's a part of what makes comics great and referencing other characters doesn't mean making the show about those characters like a lot of people seem to think.

I've never really liked the approach of taking this one fantastic thing (the superhero) and placing him in our mundane world. It's like taking a knight and putting him here to fight thugs when we want to see him fight dragons.

That's a good point. I recently watched the Flash tv series from 20+ years ago and it kind of ticked me that a lot of the villains of the week were so ... ordinary. Then again a lot of the supervillains that made it to the TV show (Captain Cold, Mirror Master, and Trickster) were played to camp and they were almost hard for me to take seriously.

I'm sure there can be some balance between ordinary villains and metahuman ones. Captain Cold in the Flash series almost came close Captain Cold came close as he was actually portrayed as a serious threat and wasn't really portrayed comedically.

I think a clever way of pulling it off is by having a no tights rule or smallvill-ized costumes for some of the non-powered characters in the DC universe. For instance, the Calculator, Onomatopoeia, Drakon, Merlyn would be good villains for Green Arrow.

 

[solidsnake86]

When I say that I don't mean a show ABOUT the stable of characters per se. Just acknowledging that this is a superhero and weird crap will happen to him every now and then both on the side of the villains and the heroes. I don't like seeing an expanded universe as just this optional thing. It's a part of what makes comics great and referencing other characters doesn't mean making the show about those characters like a lot of people seem to think.

I've never really liked the approach of taking this one fantastic thing (the superhero) and placing him in our mundane world. It's like taking a knight and putting him here to fight thugs when we want to see him fight dragons.

And thats fine, but you also need some sort of believability in order to sell it. Going to far in the fantastical direction is not the best approach either. Batmans villains like freeze, clayface and man-bat I think would work because they came to be because of accidents. It balances the fantastical with the real world which the animated series did well. Thats what arrow needs, more batman "type" villains, less meta-humans. Especially consider the main character is human.

 

[Savage]

I see now. By meta-humans you mean strictly characters born with powers as opposed to those who gained them through science. Understandable since I always saw them as DC's answer to Marvel's mutants. Things like the skin conditions of Killer Croc and Brick have always seemed fine to me, though.

A certain level of realism is fine in order to keep the story grounded and the audience interested. By realism of course I mean rules within the universe to adhere to. Transformers has their rules, Harry Potter has their rules, Star Wars has their rules. From what I can tell it's the same deal with comics. What matters in the end is that the emotions are real and relate-able. As long as the characters and actors believe it then the audience will. Spider-man was brought up earlier and that movie series really seems to manage reality and fantasy just fine. Someday I hope to see characters like Batman and Green Arrow seem like they would fit right in with the Justice League on screen and not have it be so jarring. Characters I can logically see running around with sidekicks without thinking "The whole illusion of this world is ruined".

 

[solidsnake86]

I see now. By meta-humans you mean strictly characters born with powers as opposed to those who gained them through science. Understandable since I always saw them as DC's answer to Marvel's mutants. Things like the skin conditions of Killer Croc and Brick have always seemed fine to me, though.

A certain level of realism is fine in order to keep the story grounded and the audience interested. By realism of course I mean rules within the universe to adhere to. Transformers has their rules, Harry Potter has their rules, Star Wars has their rules. From what I can tell it's the same deal with comics. What matters in the end is that the emotions are real and relate-able. As long as the characters and actors believe it then the audience will. Spider-man was brought up earlier and that movie series really seems to manage reality and fantasy just fine. Someday I hope to see characters like Batman and Green Arrow seem like they would fit right in with the Justice League on screen and not have it be so jarring. Characters I can logically see running around with sidekicks without thinking "The whole illusion of this world is ruined".

I probably should have made that more clear. I get how the metahumans are dc's answer to marvel, I just find it unnecessary as they dont need an answer to that. I feel like the mutant thing is something that belongs to the x-men universe because it goes beyond the scope of other heroes and deals with themes of isolation, belonging, etc. Its best left to a separate universe that can deal with those things.

I brought up the spider-man thing earlier, and I feel thats the best way to balance it. You're right as well on setting up the rules of the universe. Batman the animated series I felt did this very well, it was "grounded" yet had those fantastical elements. His villains also weren't uber powerful, they kept them in a believable range.

That's what I think GA needs, villains that compliment what his skill sets are. Smallville could do superpowered villains and other heroes, because he was superman. Once you start bringing those people onto arrow you start to question what the purpose of his character is if another hero can mop the floor with him and his villains. Smallville basically used him as a cheerleader, preaching about justice every 2 seconds.