With just three episodes left until the Season 1 finale of The CW drama series Arrow, things are about to get epic, and there are sure to be twists and turns and shocking reveals, as everything is coming to a head.  With life-threatening decisions, extreme danger, sacrifices and huge life questions, not everyone might make it out alive.

During this recent interview to discuss what’s to come, actor Stephen Amell (who plays billionaire playboy Oliver Queen, aka Arrow) talked about the journey he’s been on this season, why Oliver and Diggle (David Ramsey) have a bit of a falling out, that the Oliver-Laurel (Katie Cassidy)-Tommy (Colin Donnell) love triangle will be coming back into play, the inevitable showdown between Oliver Queen and Malcolm Merlyn (John Barrowman), how close Thea (Willa Holland) and Roy Harper (Colton Haynes) might get to the vigilante, how big of a role The Undertaking will have, how much fun it was to do some pre-island flashbacks, the inevitability that individuals from the island will show up in the present day, the significant cliffhanger in the finale, just how much he actually knows about Season 2, and how excited he is for Comic-Con this year.  Check out what he had to say, and be aware that there are some spoilers.

Shortly before the cast of Arrow hit the WonderCon stage, I was able to participate in a roundtable interview with Stephen Amell.  During a really fun interview, Amell talked about the upcoming episodes, his reaction after reading the season finale script, whether he considers his character a “good guy,” the devloping storyline between Oliver and Tommy, the shooting schedule as it relates to the island, and a lot more.  In addition, he also talked about the wine company he’s building, what it’s like to walk around a convention now, and tells a great story from last year’s Comic-Con.  Hit the jump to watch.

The CW’s hit freshman series Arrow delighted fans during a panel presentation this weekend at WonderCon.  Based on DC comics liberal hero Green Arrow, Arrow stars Stephen Amell, Willa Holland, Paul Blackthorne and Colin Donnell participated in a Q&A along with executive producer Marc Guggenheim, who let a few spoilers out in order to please fans.  They also screened a special montage video of scenes for the upcoming episodes to close out the first season.

Arrow airs Wednesday nights at 8/7c on the CW.  Hit the jump to watch the video montage and to see our panel recap.

Over the past 30 years, PaleyFest has held panel sessions and screenings that connect the worldwide community of television fans with the casts and creators of their favorite TV shows.  One of the drama series celebrated this year was The CW hit Arrow, and Collider was there to get the scoop on what’s to come in the Season 1 finale and what’s in store for Season 2.

While there, we got the opportunity to speak with executive producers/writers Greg Berlanti, Marc Guggenheim and Andrew Kreisberg, along with actors Stephen Amell (aka The Arrow) and David Ramsey (who plays John Diggle).  The actors shared their reactions when they heard what the Season 1 finale would entail and talked about what they’ve enjoyed about playing their characters, and the creative team gave some insight about where things are headed for the remainder of this season, how getting an early Season 2 renewal allowed them to get specific with the threads in the finale, that they’ve had 60% of the ideas for this season in their heads since the beginning, how much the big Arrow identity reveals have opened up the story, the biggest challenges in making this show, every week, and that they’re striving for a finale that both gives a sense of closure and also leaves you with enough cliffhangers and nuggets that you’re anxious for more.  Check out what they had to say after the jump, and be aware that there are spoilers.

Adding an extra layer of authenticity and intensity, the indie drama Allegiance is based on writer/director Mike Connors’ own personal experiences serving in the military while also paying tribute to the 21 million veterans living in the United States today.  The story follows Lieutenant Danny Sefton (Seth Gabel), who has received a questionable transfer that will keep him safely stationed back home while his National Guard unit deploys to one of the most dangerous cities in Iraq.  When the unit’s best medic, Specialist Reyes (Bow Wow), is denied a compassionate reassignment to stay home with his terminally ill son, he asks Sefton to help him go AWOL.

During this recent exclusive phone interview with Collider, actor Seth Gabel (who played Lincoln Lee on the Fox TV series Fringe) talked about what made him want to be a part of this film, the type of leader his character is, how he was able to identify with the man he was portraying, what it was like to work with Bow Wow, how excited he was to have the boot camp experience, and how this gave him a new appreciation for people who dedicate their lives to defending our country.  He also talked about what it was like to have been a part of Fringe, how the interest in his Arrow guest role as The Count (based on Count Vertigo from the comic book series) has been both surprising and incredible, taking on a “super-villain,” that he hopes to return for future episodes, and how inspiring show star Stephen Amell’s physical dedication to the role has been for him.  Check out what he had to say after the jump.

Good news for a couple of popular series.  First up, hot off the network’s biggest ratings in years, The CW has picked up the superhero adaptation Arrow for a full season.  Much like Smallville, the show puts a television spin on the Green Arrow comic book character and has been met with a relatively enthusiastic audience response.  The series had an impressively strong hold from its premiere numbers of 4.02 million viewers and a 1.3 rating in the coveted 18-49 demo to the second episode, so the order was a no-brainer.  The CW’s pick-up is for a full 22-episode season.

Hit the jump for renewal news concerning the best show on TV, Homeland.

Debuting as the most-watched new show (or any show) on the CW Network in three years, the superhero series Arrow appears to be right on target.  The cast and crew of the show were on hand at New York Comic-Con to reveal a sneak peek at Arrow’s first nine episodes.  Centering on the return of Oliver Queen (Stephen Amell), a young Starling City billionaire feared lost at sea, Arrow follows his exploits as the masked vigilante, Green Arrow. While common criminals are learning to fear his name, the upcoming episodes feature a host of named villains, such as Deadshot, Deathstroke, The Huntress and China White.  Hit the jump to see them in the NYCC exclusive footage.

As a preamble to this week’s Top 5, I’d like to take a few lines to recognize my own personal “Top 2″ from the past 7 days: the St. Louis Cardinals and Warner Premiere’s animated adaptation of Frank Miller‘s classic tale The Dark Knight Returns, Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Part 1. Beginning with the former, my beloved Cardinals completed yet another historic comeback last night against the Washington Nationals. Win or lose, I think it’s necessary to get in writing here that I won’t have a single negative thing to say about this team the rest of the way. As for the latter, I had a chance to sit down with director Jay Oliva‘s animated adaptation the other day and I found it to be a worthy retelling of Miller’s classic Bat-story. If you have any interest in animated comic adaptations and have yet to check it out, I recommend doing so.

But enough of my own personal favorites, included in this week’s trip around the bases (yep, that’s another baseball reference) is our coverage of New York Comic-Con 2012, the first trailer for director Sacha Gervasi‘s Hitchcock, Seven Psychopaths interviews with Sam Rockwell, Christopher Walken and more, a new trailer for Quentin Tarantino‘s Django Unchained, and a slew of interviews for The CW’s new superhero series, Arrow. A brief recap and link to each awaits.

The CW’s highly anticipated new drama series Arrow tells the story of billionaire playboy Oliver Queen (Stephen Amell), who has returned home to Starling City after being missing and presumed dead for five years, following a violent shipwreck. His devoted mother Moira (Susanna Thompson), much-beloved sister Thea (Willa Holland) and best friend Tommy Merlyn (Colin Donnell) welcome him home, while his former girlfriend, Laurel Lance (Katie Cassidy), is not so happy. Now, along with reconnecting to those closest to him, Oliver has secretly created the persona of the vigilante Arrow, to right wrongs and restore the city to its former glory.

During this recent interview held at the DC Comics office in Burbank, producers Andrew Kreisberg and Marc Guggenheim, along with DC’s Geoff Johns, talked about bringing Oliver Queen/Arrow to life in this format, adding characters from the DC universe throughout the season (including The Huntress, Deadshot and The Royal Flush Gang), how often viewers will get flashbacks to what occurred on the island, the darker elements of the series, how someone will discover Oliver Queen’s secret early on, the more long-term plan for the show, adding John Barrowman (Torchwood) to the cast, and big bad villains.  Check out what they had to say after the jump.

The CW’s highly anticipated new drama series Arrow tells the story of billionaire playboy Oliver Queen (Stephen Amell), who has returned home to Starling City after being missing and presumed dead for five years, following a violent shipwreck.  His devoted mother Moira (Susanna Thompson), much-beloved sister Thea (Willa Holland) and best friend Tommy (Colin Donnell) welcome him home, while his former girlfriend, Laurel Lance (Katie Cassidy), is not so happy.  Now, along with reconnecting to those closest to him, Oliver has secretly created the persona of the vigilante Arrow, to right wrongs and restore the city to its former glory.

During this recent exclusive interview with Collider, show star Stephen Amell talked about how he won the role, the challenge of taking on such an iconic character, what it’s been like to already get such positive feedback from fans, how quickly the chemistry happened with the cast, how the Queen family dynamic will evolve, how quickly fans will get to see some of the other DC characters making appearances, and the level of physical training he has to do for the show.  Check out what he had to say after the jump.

Though Smallville has come to an end, The CW is taking another shot at a superhero series this fall with Arrow.  For those unfamiliar, the show is an adaptation of the Green Arrow comics character with Stephen Amell starring as Oliver Queen, an eccentric billionaire who was recently discovered alive on a deserted island after having been presumed dead for five years.  We’ll likely see a number of familiar characters pop up in the series from time to time (China White appears in episode 2), but today we have our first look at Michael Rowe as the DC Comics assassin Deadshot.

The character has a long history in the comics, so it’ll be interesting to see how the CW puts their own spin on his story.  Hit the jump to check out the images, and look for Deadshot to appear in the third episode of the season. .  Arrow premieres on the CW Wednesday, October 10th at 8 ET/PT.

Arrow is one of the most highly anticipated comic adaptations to hit the small screen in quite some time. Fans of Smallville expecting Justin Hartley to walk easily onto the new series were surprised to find a stranger in their midst. From co-starring roles as a prostitute on Hung to a firefighter on Private Practice, Stephen Amell takes on the role of the Green Arrow, Oliver Queen, and Katie Cassidy comes off a long line of less than savory characters to play the sweet girl that got away, Dinah “Laurel” Lance. Find out what they had to say about the show and their characters after the jump.

I don’t know anything about the Green Arrow comics.  Literally, nothing.  All I had was an educated guess that he wears green and wields a bow.  This worked well for my first viewing of the Arrow pilot, because I was fascinated by the backstory.  The opening scene throws you in the middle of the action as a disheveled man in green is climbing about a rock island.  Even with the expository narration, it’s a thrilling way to launch a new series.

They pull back to reveal that the man in green is Oliver Queen (played by Stephen Amell), a billionaire playboy who shipwrecked five years ago and was presumed dead.  Oliver’s awkward attempts to reintegrate with his former life are intercut with flashbacks to the night of the shipwreck.  Unfortunately, as Arrow drifts away from the island and spends more time in the city, the show loses its luster.  Hit the jump for the rest of the brief review and a recap of the Q&A with stars Stephen Amell and Katie Cassidy as well as producers Marc Guggenheim, Andrew Kreisberg, and David Nutter.

If you enjoyed the first clip from the CW’s super-heroic series, Arrow, you’re probably going to love the full trailer.  While the clip featured star Stephen Amell putting all of us men-folk to shame with his uber-athletic portrayal of Oliver Queen, the trailer does a better job at setting up the origin of the titular character, Green Arrow.  I was surprised and delighted when Paul Blackthorne (The Dresden Files) featured heavily in the trailer as a resident cop eager to hunt down the vigilante.  I also thought, lest my eyes deceive me, that I caught a brief cameo from Smallville star, Kristin Kreuk, but perhaps viewers can confirm/correct me in the comment section.  Hit the jump to check out the trailer [and sneak preview] for Arrow, coming to the small screen Wednesday evenings this fall on the CW.

Plenty of good stuff has come out of WonderCon over the weekend, and now The CW has a nice piece of hype as the network has unveiled our first official look at the Green Arrow in their new superhero series Arrow. It shows Stephen Amell as the title hero, and I have to say, this image is pretty damn cool, and almost makes me wish this was the first look at a Green Arrow film as opposed to a network series. Either way, it looks like this will be a satisfying replacement for the now finished Smallville series so fans can still get their superhero fix at The CW. Check out the full image after the jump with a few details on the series.