It’s the end of a massive era in superhero TV: The Emerald Archer is hanging up his bow.
Tonight the CW has confirmed that Arrow is coming to an end seven years after it introduced us to Stephen Amell’s take on Oliver Queen. The series, currently airing its seventh season, will return for an eighth and final run, consisting of 10 episodes, in spring of this year. Amell himself took to Twitter to break the news, as well as thank fans for their support.
Playing Oliver Queen has been the greatest professional experience of my life… but you can’t be a vigilante forever.
Arrow will return for a final run of 10 episodes this Fall.
There’s so much to say… for now I just want to say thank you.
— Stephen Amell (@StephenAmell) March 6, 2019
While it’s understandable — all things come to an end, and Arrow’s had a pretty solid run all things considered — this is still a bit of a shock to the system, if only because it’s not just the end of the show, but a whole chapter of superhero TV. Arrow was the progenitor of what would become an entire interconnected universe of DC superheroes on TV for the CW, executing the idea before (and arguably better than) its movie siblings in the DC cinematic universe could do so the big screen.
Without it laying the groundwork, we wouldn’t have Supergirl, Legends of Tomorrow, or Black Lightning, or Batwoman on the way.
We probably wouldn’t have some of the most delectably silly and fun comic book crossover events on TV between these shows, either.
Without its founding father around any more, the future of what the DC universe on the CW looks like is suddenly a lot less familiar. But for now, at least we know we’ve got a few more missions to enjoy with Ollie and his motley crew of vigilante friends. We’ll bring you more on Arrow’s eighth and final season as we learn it.