Arrow star Stephen Amell plans on celebrating each episode of the hit CW show’s eighth and final season, and he started with an Instagram video honoring the first. Arrow premiered back in 2012, and quickly established itself as a new and interesting take on a superhero drama. As viewership grew, so did the Arrowverse, with series The Flash, Supergirl, Legends of Tomorrow, and upcoming show Batwoman all taking place in the same universe. Arrow will be the first show to leave, after 170 episodes. The series’ final season was announced in the spring, with Amell and the show’s executive producers weighing in on the decision.
Much has already been revealed about Arrow season 8, though some surprises still await fans. One thing’s for sure: leading lady Felicity Smoak won’t be a part of it, as Emily Bett Rickards announced back in March that she was leaving the show after 7 seasons. However, new and returning characters will fill in, with the actors who play Connor Hawke, Mia Smoak, and William Clayton all returning. Additionally, Charlie Barnett has been cast as the adult John Diggle, Jr., which indicates that the show’s flash forwards to the year 2040 will continue.
Arrow’s season 8 premiere is titled “Starling City,” in reference to Star City’s original name. In his Instagram video, Amell thanked specific people involved in the making of the episode, including director James Bamford and co-star Kat McNamara, who plays Mia. He also revealed that he still hasn’t worked with McNamara, but said he was “excited to, at a certain point.” Amell also acknowledged “the returning guest stars that you know about, namely Colin Donnell and Josh Segarra, as well as a couple that you don’t know about.” Donnell and Segarra play season one favorite Tommy Merlyn and villain Adrian Chase, respectively. Check out Amell’s video below.
Additionally, Amell teased a return to the past, which perhaps explains the episode’s title. He thanked Arrow’s set decoration department, saying they “did a really, really good job recreating some stuff that we haven’t seen in many years.” He also shouted out the stunts department who “actually had to make some fights look like other fights in this episode,” a comment likely to fuel fan speculation about the circumstances of the premiere. Amell closed the video by telling fans he’s “having a blast” filming the final season.
In addition to Arrow’s eighth season, fans also have the upcoming Crisis on Infinite Earths crossover to look forward to, which will unite heroes from all five Arrowverse shows. It’ll also serve as Arrow’s series finale, and potentially the end of Amell’s Oliver Queen, whose 2019 death was teased in the show’s season 7 finale. Producer Marc Guggenheim revealed that the crossover will begin with “the destruction of various parallel universes,” indicating that the effects of this crossover will be more widely felt than they have in the past. Amell’s comments in the video also seem to say that time travel and alternate realities may play a role in Arrow’s entire final season, rather than just the crossover. Either way, fans should be excited to hear so many clues about the show’s final season premiere.
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Arrow season 8 premieres October 15 on The CW.
Source: Stephen Amell
