Arrow debuted in 2012, it was hard to imagine that this street-level crime-fighting series would kickstart a shared universe of DC superhero shows. Soon after its premiere, Arrow spun off into a handful of series that included The Flash, Black Lightning, and Supergirl in its own universe dubbed the Arrowverse. However, since that popular series ended in 2020 after 8 seasons, the Arrowverse has been in a bit of an odd spot. Shows such as Stargirl and Superman & Lois have kept it all going, but there has been a sense in recent months that this television universe is winding down. That being said, it seems that Arrow star David Ramsey is returning to the role of John Diggle in a major way with his very own series titled Justice U at The CW.
According to Variety, the show will center around Diggle as he “embarks on a new mission to recruit five young meta-humans to live undercover as freshmen at a prestigious university. There he will oversee their education and train them to become the heroes of tomorrow. The show is based on characters from the DC pantheon.”
On top of that, Ramsey is attached to direct the pilot of the series and the actor has signed a directing deal that will see him direct multiple future episodes across the many Arrowverse shows. If that was not enough, Ramsey will also appear as a guest star in multiple episodes of different Arrowverse shows.
The actor has made many appearances as a guest star in shows like The Flash, Batwoman, and Superman & Lois since Arrow ended, and he has also become quite the hot name in the director's chair over at The CW. He has already directed episodes of Arrow, Superman & Lois, Batwoman, Supergirl, and DC’s Legends of Tomorrow.
Michael Narducci and Zoanne Clack will write and executive produce Justice U with Narducci already having a hand in the Arrowverse as a co-executive producer on Superman & Lois. Greg Berlanti, Sarah Schechter, and David Madden of Berlanti Productions are also executive producing with comic book writer Geoff Johns, who is currently overseeing production on Stargirl.
Ramsey’s Diggle has been an extremely popular character in the Arrowverse. Overall, this show sounds like a very interesting concept and Diggle is the type of mentor character that could make this kind of “training the next generation of superheroes” story work. Also, the angle of the heroes being undercover in college sounds right up The CW’s alley.
It will be interesting to see if this show picks up on the storyline teased in the final episode of Arrow where Diggle seemingly was chosen to be a Green Lantern in the vein of a John Stewart since all his guest appearances since Arrow ended have not really addressed that. Hopefully, there will be some cool recognizable heroes like a Static Shock for Diggle to bounce off of. For all the latest news on Justice U, stick with Collider.