Amell and Co. also preview the massive five-night crossover, 'Crisis on Infinite Earths'.
After six years, seven seasons, and the creation of an entire small-screen comic book universe, The CW's Arrow is set to backflip off into the sunset after season 8. But the show isn't going out on an easy note. Speaking to EW, star Stephen Amell and the minds behind the series discussed how the final go-around will be a "different show", and how that extends to more than just the fact Emily Bett Rickards' Felicity Smoak won't play a part.
For one, the show is taking the action out of Star City for the most part. Season 8 finds Oliver working alongside the all-knowing alien the Monitor (LaMonica Garrett) as they try and keep the entire multiverse from falling apart. Co-creator Marc Guggenheim and showrunner Beth Schwartz discussed Arrow's evolution into a globe-hopping, multidimensional event.
Image via The CW
“[We’re] taking the show on the road, really getting away from Star City. Oliver is going to be traveling the world, and we’re going to go to a lot of different places,” says Guggenheim. “Every time I see Oliver and the Monitor, it’s like, ‘Okay, we are very far from where we started.’ But again, that means the show has grown and evolved.” Adds Schwartz, “This is sort of his final test because it’s greater than Star City.”
As the show travels the world and revisits familiar faces—Colin Donnell's Tommy Merlyn and Josh Segarra's Adrian Chase are both set to appear, despite both being dead—the question leading up to the endgame is whether Oliver Queen will make it out alive. That's the mystery fans hoped to be answered in this year's crossover, "Crisis on Infinite Earths," which spans Arrow, The Flash, Supergirl, Legends of Tomorrow, and Batwoman. The five-night event will deal with, among many other things, the Monitor's prophecy about Oliver's imminent death.
Image via The CW
“Everything relates to what’s going to happen in our crossover episode, which we’ve never done before,” Schwartz said, with Guggenheim adding that "each episode in the run-up to ‘Crisis’ has Oliver dealing with the various stages of grief that come with that discovery...So the theme really is coming to terms, acceptance.”
The one person who is definitely chill with Oliver dying? Stephen Amell himself.
“Because he’s a superhero with no superpowers, I always felt he should die — but he may also not die...I cried as [Marc Guggenheim] was telling me [Oliver's final scene]. There are a lot of hurdles to get over to make that final scene.”
For more on Arrow's final season, check out the links below. The series returns for season 8 on October 15.
