Arrow What would you have done differently with Arrow?

[Deathstroke]

I personally think "Arrow" gets much more right than wrong thus far, but there are a few obvious flaws with the show.

What would you have done differently to make the show perfect?


Personally I would have dropped this whole subplot with Laurel's sister and the boat. It just isn't a valid enough reason for Det. Lance to see Oliver as a murderer.

I think I would have preferred Oliver to have been involved in a DUI (where he was drunk during his carefree party days) that got Lance's child killed. Oliver would use his family's power and influence to escape the charges.

It would highlight the rich/working class dichotomy and bring up issues about the rich using their power and influence for corrupt means. Oliver's fateful cruise on the Queen's Gambit would have been an escape from the media after the trial, like many celebrities do.


Also, making Oliver and Laurel as childhood friends was a mistake. I would have preferred they only met for the first time after he returns from the island and they are enemies for several episodes.



I also would have changed 'Thea Queen' into a male character 'Conner Queen.' He would be Oliver's younger brother who is basically following in his footsteps in more obvious ways than Thea and heading down the same road that led to Oliver killing Lance's child. He's involved in the same fraternity and has similar rich and corrupt friends.

Oliver, now reformed, would work to influence Conor towards the right path. Think "American History X" and the relationship between Ed Norton's character and his younger brother. It could end with Conor being tragically killed in the same way, paying for Oliver's sins.

Merlyn would be an active member of that elite rich brotherhood, and with Oliver betraying their ideologies, it would make them both enemies.

Class warfare would really be the main theme I'd like to stress.

 

[Wesley Dodds]

I would have embraced the lineage of the comic book in a way that honoured and celebrated it.
As opposed to jumping on the "dark and reaistic" fad and tarting it up as Nolan-Batman Lite.

 

[BH/HHH]

It's got a lot more right than wrong, but I do think the villains need more focus but I assume as the show goes on this will happen. One thing that bothered me in Smallvilke in later seasons was Clark was mostly a secondary character to Ollie Chloe and Lois but with Arrow the focus is on Oliver Queen and his journey. I think this us something else Season 1 of Arrow (so far) has in common with Batman Begins, the focus of that film was Bruce Wayne and his journey. So I'm maybe expecting season 2 to focus more on the villains.

But unlike some films or shows I've watched in the past nothing really stands out to me that I'd change, there's been too many films/ shows I've watched where I've thought I would change this and that etc but with Arrow I don't think like that.

Edit: admittedly I wouldn't have let them kill Deadshot but maybe there'll be a twist in there somewhere.

 

[wampa1]

I would have embraced the lineage of the comic book in a way that honoured and celebrated it.
As opposed to jumping on the "dark and reaistic" fad and tarting it up as Nolan-Batman Lite.

Bingo bango bongo.

There's also little too much melodrama for my liking

 

[Savage]

I'd focus a lot more on the villains and Ollie's crusade. I don't think that gets enough and it's honestly kind of a rushed aspect by the end of each episode. I feel the drama with the family and Dinah (Laurel. Sure.) shouldn't take up center stage the way that it does. I think that there should be episodes dedicated to them, yes, but only as breaks from Oliver's work as Green Arrow. Really show how much he has been neglecting them since his return and that his mission is all that there is to him. Make him slowly realize that the mission isn't the only important thing and be on his way to becoming the family man that he is in the comics.

With Smallville I understood why the drama took center stage. There was no way that the budget would allow for an insane amount of Superman action. Green Arrow however is pretty practical so I don't see why that aspect can't take the center stage. Honestly that and the island aspects are the only reason that I watch the show. Couldn't care less about Moira and her conspiracy right now and I'm glad the drama between Ollie, his sister, and Dinah is cooling off. The crap love triangle with Merlyn still has to go but teenage girls need their hook.

 

[MarvelKnight]

I would have quit ripping off Batman Begins first and foremost. I agree with the Love Triangle. It is so ridiculous. But this is CW we are talking about. They need their soap-opera drama interjected in their shows somewhere.

I'd also get a new writer. The dialogue on the show is absolutely horrible. I'm close to watching this on Mute(til the action starts)

 

[az824]

I love the show, but there are a few nit picky things I would've done:

1. Give him a mask, it's ridiculous to use paint

2. Green Arrow, not Arrow

3. Dinah, then Laurel, Lance

4. More focus on villains! But like others have said, they'll get to that

 

[BH/HHH]

I love the show, but there are a few nit picky things I would've done:

1. Give him a mask, it's ridiculous to use paint

2. Green Arrow, not Arrow

3. Dinah, then Laurel, Lance

4. More focus on villains! But like others have said, they'll get to that

1. You have to realise this guy is still a rookie so he's probably gonna pick certain things up along the way theres no need to rush this aspect.

2. On the name that will come in time, the characters not gonna name himself so it'l come I reckon by the season 1 finale.

3. Agree on this don't know if its an original comics thing or something.

4. As I said in my post above the first season will probably be more Ollie focused and the villains will start to take the stage from the 2nd season.

 

[Primal Slayer]

What would I change aboout this show....

A. Give him a different love interest, probably Bonnie King just to have to a comic book character in there and who was an old love interest.

B. Bring in Dinah in the middle-end of the season. She isnt Ollies biggest fan in the beginning. They both have secret ids that they keep from each other. She should be his equal is just about every way. Though of course she sucks at using a bow/arrow for her weapons and is more trained in martial arts.

C. Have this be the beginning of meta humans really being introduced to the world and have them be realistic as possible ala Alphas.

D. While he was trained on the island, show him having a little trouble operating in a city where he has to hide his actions.

There are some other things but we are still so early into the series that it is hard to know where they will go.

 

[jrmtz543]

Isn't his name "hood" at this early point? that's what the other characters call him, lol.

 

[solidsnake86]

I think they took the right approach. Being a slave to the comics is sometimes a hinderance. I think it would be a mistake to kill thea just to have roy, for the sake of making comic fans happy.

Some more focus on the villains would be great. That said, its a tv show and they have plenty of time to develop them, right now they have taken the right approach by focusing on Oliver and the supporting cast.

 

[protocida]

Particularly, I prefer the show as it is. I wouldn't change anything about that.

All I'd change is the ending of "Lone Gunmen". Basically, when Arrow arrives at the abandoned warehouse to capture Deadshot, he falls for a trap and is shot in the shoulder. Deadshot reveals that the Well-Dressed Man hired him to kill Arrow, and he planned everything to lure Arrow into a trap.

Arrow struggles to get a drop on Deadshot while the poison affects his system and the wounded shoulder messes up his aim, but he gets a shot when Diggle shows up. While Deadshot is distracted shooting him, Arrow manages to wield the bow and hit Deadshot in the eye.

Oliver drags Diggle out of the warehouse and they return to the bunker, where he administrates the cure in both. Meanwhile, Detective Lance and his men break into the warehouse and find Deadshot gone and the bloody arrow and shattered eyepiece left behind.

 

[Deathstroke]

Arrow needs to follow "Flashpoint" as an archetype. That show manages to keep the action and suspense going for the entire episode uninterrupted.

 

[Human Torch]

I'll agree with most that have been already mentioned.Dinah instead of Laurel,Green Arrow instead of "the Hood",more focus on the supervillains,mask instead of paint.

Not have Ollie kill.(although to the show's credit,they're not taking that lightly)

More trick arrows (and before anyone brings up the "boxing glove" arrow,I'm talking about smokescreen arrows and so forth)

Don't be afraid to open up the Arrow family of side-kicks/partners as the series progresses.

But I agree,the series is on the right track for the most part,and I hope it stays there.

 

[Baramos]

I would have dropped the family drama dynamics and side plots (they aren't even logical--his sister is a drug addict but for some reason his mother puts a bodyguard on him instead of her?), but those are apparently a requirement for CW shows, so at the very least I would have maintained Merlyn "the Magician" as his nemesis and an archer and not made him, inexplicably, into his buddy. Same with making his sister his future sidekick. That's dumb.

I don't have a problem with the Detective Lance character, maybe it's just Blackthorne selling it or something but logically I think it works out fine. He provides an antagonist for Ollie that he can't just kill like he could a real enemy or bad guy. And I assume Laurel will be turning into Black Canary next season when Det. Lance gets killed so again, it's a good character and good to have him dislike Ollie and his vigilantism, because it alters the dynamic when Laurel can only get true justice by becoming a vigilante herself...

At least I think he'll get killed this year. That seems like a season finale type thing to do. Or not, maybe they'll save it for later.

 

[BH/HHH]

I would have dropped the family drama dynamics and side plots (they aren't even logical--his sister is a drug addict but for some reason his mother puts a bodyguard on him instead of her?), but those are apparently a requirement for CW shows, so at the very least I would have maintained Merlyn "the Magician" as his nemesis and an archer and not made him, inexplicably, into his buddy. Same with making his sister his future sidekick. That's dumb.

I don't have a problem with the Detective Lance character, maybe it's just Blackthorne selling it or something but logically I think it works out fine. He provides an antagonist for Ollie that he can't just kill like he could a real enemy or bad guy. And I assume Laurel will be turning into Black Canary next season when Det. Lance gets killed so again, it's a good character and good to have him dislike Ollie and his vigilantism, because it alters the dynamic when Laurel can only get true justice by becoming a vigilante herself...

At least I think he'll get killed this year. That seems like a season finale type thing to do. Or not, maybe they'll save it for later.

The bodyguard was put on oIllie and not Thea for a number of reasons, he was kidnapped n almost killed by people wanting to know if he had any information from his father, his mother obviously sees it as a way to keep an eye on him aswell (well as far as she knows). I don't even think she knows Thea does drugs n people would probably only kidnap Thea as a way to swindle money cause she wasn't with her father when he died.

 

[Syncos]

More trick arrows (and before anyone brings up the "boxing glove" arrow,I'm talking about smokescreen arrows and so forth)

I'm sure this will progress as the show does. We've already seen oliver use arrows with recording devices and audio players and such. I can't guarantee anything, but I feel like Diggle and what will be his experience with Huntress will be leading him away from killing. I think once he's no longer just murdering people, he'll have to work on some new types of arrows, for non lethal combat.

 

[solidsnake86]

I would have dropped the family drama dynamics and side plots (they aren't even logical--his sister is a drug addict but for some reason his mother puts a bodyguard on him instead of her?), but those are apparently a requirement for CW shows, so at the very least I would have maintained Merlyn "the Magician" as his nemesis and an archer and not made him, inexplicably, into his buddy. Same with making his sister his future sidekick. That's dumb.

Making him Meryln "the Magician" like the comics is an even dumber idea. There is no where to go with that story wise besides an even more contrived plot of making him jealous that Oliver is a better archer? I'll stick with the best friend angle over that.

Also, regarding his sister, nowhere does it say she needs to become his sidekick just because the writers decided to give a nod to fans by nicknaming her speedy.

 

[Baramos]

Merlyn tries to assassinate Batman in the comics, no reason not to have him try to assassinate someone in the TV show universe. Basically he should have been a recurring villain, not his buddy. Give his buddy a different name entirely.

 

[Destructus86]

I would have embraced the comic a lot more. Villains in actual costumes...but less flashy versions of said costumes. I would give GREEN Arrow more humor to his personality and less of a Bruce Wayne complex.

 

[Savage]

Since Merlyn is only Tommy's last name I'm all for making Merlyn The Archer a relative of his who tries to influence him.

 

[cnc_theft_auto]

hey guys, i'm new here (first post) and i've seen all eps of arrow so far (except for ep 6) but i havent read the comics much, so I might have different opinions to you guys, but...

A) Arrow is a good name (for the show at least), and I reckon he doesnt need to be called Green Arrow, as thats kind of a silly name. I like "The Hood", it sounds mysterious.

B) I hate the island stuff, it just seems thrown in there. And what the hell are those military guys doing chasing that chinese guy on some "deserted" island?? I vote to get rid of this subplot, or at least finish it off soon!

C) I hate the love triangle bw Tommy, Laurel and Oliver, its just so mainstream. All these awesome nerdy franchises are getting changed for the public and ruining it for us true fans (the last few marvel movies for example).

D) I dont see how they can turn Laurel into Black Canary at this stage, they've made her character too normal imo and cant really make her out to be some superhuman badass chick all of a sudden.

E) I agree, gadgets and trick arrows!! MORE!!!

F) Finally, get rid of all this murder, its not needed. I hope Diggle's role as sidekick involves gadget-making and moral support, including having a go at him for killing people.

P.S. Anyone notice Oliver's replacement bodyguard was from Sliders? Love that show!

 

[combocaz]

I would have went with the domino mask or hi-tech goggles rather than the painted crap on his face. The villain costume designs are pretty budget looking so i think the series should look at creating its own villains rather than butcher some of the ones from DC comics. That toy thing Deadshot was wearing was very cheesy looking. The royal flush gang oO??? hockey masks pfft and a shield to stop arrows lol. Im struggling abit in watching this series, i already want speedy to die and the love triangle thing with ollie, his friend and ex is boring to watch. I cant be bothered with the flashbacks of the island. The newspapers should be giving him a name already but i guess he will be stuck with vigilante.

 

[DarKush]

-Changed Starling City back to Star City, but based it on Seattle. I wish the city looked less generic.
-Had Arrow in a mask or goggles. Also Arrow would use his voice changer with everyone, similar to how Green Arrow did on Smallville.
-Better costuming for the villains.
-Better overall treatment of DC villains. I think many needed better introductions as well as exits. While I wish that villains like China White were given better arcs. She should be more than muscle.
-Made the Dig character Ben Turner (Bronze Tiger); that way he can eventually become his own established hero, and he would have that whole Suicide Squad history the show could play with.
-Made Tommy Merlyn more formidable right off the bat, or have by now introduced a dad, uncle, or brother that could fit the bill. Perhaps have that name be one on Oliver's list.
-Iffy on Thea as Speedy, but since they did give her that nickname I think it is a logical guess that she will eventually become his sidekick. I wish they had by now showed that she could handle herself, like they did with Laurel during that club scene.
-Changed the cinematography. It looks too much like the other CW shows.

 

[S. Grundy]

Basically have it take less cues from Nolan, and try to have some fun. I'm not talking going all camp with it, but have it be less grim and gritty and inject a little bit of levity.