Last season on Arrow, it became apparent that the show had taken a huge departure from the original intent for the series. In season 4, with the introduction of magic and a finale where the stakes involved the heroes having to stop the earth from being destroyed by nuclear weapons, the show felt a little out of its comfort zone. Back in May, even Stephen Amell admitted that Arrow is better without superpowers.
While managing to thwart the destruction of the world, Oliver also made the decision to kill once again, in order to take down Damien Darhk. With the release of a new trailer for the series, viewers are now led to believe that Oliver’s actions in last season’s finale, have made him realize that sometimes killing criminals is the only solution. When confronted by his sister Thea about this in the trailer, who invokes Laurel’s memory and what she would have wanted, Oliver had one answer: “The dead don’t want anything.”
It has been stated that the show will return to its roots, and for many fans, the means hopefully bringing on more realistic villains. Even the series showrunners have discussed how one of the villains of season 5 will be inspired by a character from the critically acclaimed HBO series, The Wire. If the show is in fact planning to take inspiration from that show, it could prove a welcome move to those wanting a series dealing with street-level crime.
The CW has now released a clip in advance of the season 5 premiere that could be indicative of what we can expect for the rest of the season in terms of tone. It features Green Arrow fighting a familiar enemy (Anarky), while also trying to disarm a bomb. It’s clear from the clip that this season Oliver will be more brutal as we see him jam an arrow through Anarky’s hand.
At one point in the clip, Green Arrow comes face-to-face with the hockey mask-wearing vigilante Wild Dog (Rick Gonzalez), who is also trying to disarm the bomb. It’s an ironic moment, considering Amell, who plays Green Arrow, previously played another vigilante who also wore a hockey mask: Casey Jones in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows. After telling Wild Dog he doesn’t want to see him on the streets again, he shoots him in the leg with an arrow, further adding to the brutality of the scene.
Fans likely know that Wild Dog ultimately joins Oliver’s new team of heroes, in addition to Mr. Terrific (Echo Kellum), and Artemis (Madison McLaughlin), so it will be interesting to see how audiences respond to this new group of vigilantes, considering fans have become so used to the likes of Speedy, Diggle, and Black Canary over the last 4 seasons. We’ll find out when Arrow returns on The CW.
The Flash season 3 airs Tuesdays at 8pm on The CW, Arrow season 5 premieres tonight in the same timeslot, Supergirl season 2 on Monday October 10, and Legends of Tomorrow season 2 on Thursday October 13.
Source: The CW
