Stephen Amell's Arrow Show Was Directly Inspired By One Classic Superhero Movie

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While the old CW is basically gone now, the network was once the home of a cherished corner of the DC Universe known as the Arrowverse. It all stemmed from "Arrow," which first hit the airwaves in 2012. A dark and gritty take on the character of Green Arrow, the series spawned the entire universe of DC Comics TV shows that followed, including "The Flash" and "Supergirl." Meanwhile, "Arrow" itself was inspired directly by another DC adaptation in the form of director Christopher Nolan's revered box office hit "The Dark Knight."

In a 2018 interview with ComicBook.com, "Arrow" star Stephen Amell confirmed that "The Dark Knight" was a huge influence on the show in its first season. As he put it:

"When the show started, the inspiration for the first season was absolutely, positively 'The Dark Knight.' When I was sitting in ['Arrow' pilot director] David Nutter's office, it was just photos of 'The Dark Knight.' That was the inspiration for the first season."

Developed by Greg Berlanti, Marc Guggenheim, and Andrew Kreisberg, "Arrows" centers on Oliver Queen (Amell), a presumed-dead billionaire playboy who returns to his home of Starling City five years after being stranded on a remote island. As he reconnects with those closest to him, Oliver appears to be the man everyone always knew. However, at night, he adopts the secret persona of a masked vigilante to right wrongs and clean up his city.

Recall that "Arrow" season 1 arrived at a time when dark and gritty reboots were all the rage largely thanks to the success of "The Dark Knight." Indeed, the same year "Arrow" debuted, "Skyfall" became the highest-grossing "James Bond" movie ever by putting a similarly dark and gritty spin on 007 — one that was very much done in response to Christopher Nolan's beloved take on Batman.

As Stephen Amell explained to ComicBook.com, that was also the case with "Arrow," and the proof is definitely in the pudding. Tonally, the first season of "Arrow" bears a strong resemblance to "The Dark Knight" in the way that it grounds Oliver Queen, both as a person and in terms of the tech he uses to fight crime. Moreover, it's easy to see how "Arrow" season 1 draws from both that film and Nolan's first movie about the Caped Crusader, 2005's "Batman Begins," down to specific shots.

We had to say goodbye to "Arrow" in 2020 after eight seasons that most fans would agree were of varying quality. But to Amell's point, those early episodes were very much shaped in the shadow of what Nolan had done with Christian Bale's Batman. That's not to say that "Arrow" is nearly as highly regarded as "The Dark Knight," but again, it's easy to see the connective tissue there.

Ultimately, "Arrow" worked well and connected with audiences. In fact, by the time the Arrowverse officially came to an end in 2023, an entire universe of shows had been built on the back of Amell's initial outing as Oliver Queen. That's quite the legacy for both "Arrow" and "The Dark Knight" alike.

You can grab "Arrow: The Complete Series" on Blu-ray or DVD from Amazon.