The CW’s Arrow season six ended with Oliver Queen (Stephen Amell) turning himself in and admitting he’s the Green Arrow so that his friends would remain safe. Season seven will pick up with Oliver serving time in prison, a rough situation for a vigilante who’s put so many of his fellow prisoners in jail.
The cast and executive producers were once again a big draw at the San Diego Comic Con, and even though Amell was unable to divulge just how long Oliver will remain behind bars, he did provide a few clues as to what’s going down in the seventh season. During our roundtable interview, Stephen Amell discussed Oliver’s predicament, the beard, and the Batwoman news.
Stephen Amell Arrow Interview:
What’s life behind bars going to be like for Oliver?
Stephen Amell: “It’s one day at a time. This will make more sense when you see the trailer. It’s one day at a time. Oliver has his head down. He’s trying to avoid conflict and he’s just pressing on.”
In an odd way do you feel like after the way season six ended, Oliver’s in one of the best places he’s been in mentally even though he’s in prison?
Stephen Amell: “No. He’s in a horrible place when we start the year. He made this deal with the FBI and he gave himself up. He’s really got to question was it all for nothing because Diaz is alive, you know? He’s put himself in prison with a bunch of people that he sent to prison. It’s bad in there for him. Really, really bad.”
Can you tell us how long the beard will stay?
Stephen Amell: (Smiling) “No.”
How are you liking it?
Stephen Amell: “I love it, man. I love it. There’s a little couple grays in here. You know what? It’s very, very exciting too, if Oliver gets out of prison I’m excited to see how he’ll interact in Star City with people knowing his identity. But being in prison – that’s a new thing for me to do. We’re 140 episodes in so having something new to do is exciting.”
Can we expect surprising alliances during his prison time?
Stephen Amell: “Yep. You know, you’ll see in the trailer we did get some people to come back to the show that we haven’t seen in a while that are in prison with him. That’s pretty cool.”
Will that make his time easier?
Stephen Amell: (Shaking his head no.) “He put them in prison.”
How are you feeling about this year’s crossover with Batwoman? It’s obviously very exciting.
Stephen Amell: “I can’t say shit! (Laughing) I do know that when it got pitched to me, when Greg pitched it to me, I was like, ‘Oh, man, that’s awesome. Really?!’ Because we went so big with the crossover last year, you can’t go bigger. You have to go more about the characters and the story.”
The news Batwoman will be part of the crossover is out, so what’s it like having that character come into this world and kind of acknowledging Gotham does exist in this universe?
Stephen Amell: “I think it’s great. The more the merrier. I’ve always taken a lot of pride in the fact that our show has helped – certainly not been instrumental – but has helped and lent a hand to other shows.
I hope that David Rappaport nails the Batwoman casting; I hope she’s awesome. I hope that their show does 10 years. We’ll see. I don’t know.”
Typically, Batman is the human king in the DC world, but you make us believe Arrow could take him.
Stephen Amell: “By take him, I would just have Superman fly him out to space. I’ve never understood that. (Laughing) I’ve never understood why he doesn’t just f*cking fly him out to space.
Batman’s Batman, man. Look, someone played Green Arrow before me. Someone’s going to play it after me. I’m very, very comfortable with his spot within the DC Universe that I just hope that as a caretaker for Oliver Queen that I’ve done him a little bit of justice.”
Arrow season seven will premiere on The CW on October 15, 2018.
