For years, DC Comics’ TV shows were collectively known as the Arrowverse, thanks to the fact that they all slowly spun out of The CW’s Arrow. And for a while, it was a fitting moniker, as there was a whole slew of DC shows all on the air (and occasionally intersecting) including The Flash, Supergirl, Legends of Tomorrow, Batwoman, and Black Lightning. But Arrow — starring Stephen Amell as DC hero Green Arrow — ended in 2020, and right now there is just one Arrowverse series left, The Flash. And it’s scheduled to end with its upcoming ninth season.
But the show, and the Arrowverse in general will at least go out with a little style — and the return of its title character one last time, with the news that Amell will reappear as Oliver Queen in The Flash’s final season.
Here was The Flash executive producer Eric Wallace on the news of Stephen Amell’s return (via Variety):
As soon as our final season was announced, we knew we wanted Stephen to come back and reprise his iconic role as Oliver Queen. After all, it was Oliver who originally launched Barry Allen on his heroic path. That’s why everyone on Team Flash felt so strongly that it was important to create a full-circle moment with Oliver’s return in the final season of ‘The Flash’ … The result is an epic-yet-emotional episode we hope Arrowverse fans will enjoy. It’s all to say ‘thank you’ to everyone for watching and supporting our show throughout nine wonderful years.
The ultimate end of the Arrowverse is well-timed with the new regime at DC Studios, with James Gunn and Peter Safran now in charge of creating an interconnected universe of movies, shows, games, and more. And thanks to the multiverse, you never know when one or more of these Arrowverse characters might show up in the future.
The Flash Season 9 premieres on The CW on February 8. Amell will appear in Episode 9 of the season.