'Arrow' Shoots Its Last Supervillain With Final, Abbreviated Season 8

Arrow is shooting its last...well, arrow. The Stephen Amell-led comic book drama from executive producer Greg Berlanti and Warner Bros. TV is ending its run with a final, abbreviated eighth season set to air this fall.Arrow is ending its eight-season run this fall with a shortened 10-episode season that will air during the 2019-2020 broadcast calendar, according to The Hollywood Reporter.Arrow kicked off a golden era of DC Comics TV series on The CW, with The Flash, Supergirl, and Legends of Tomorrow following the path laid out by the superhero series starring Amell as the spoiled playboy-turned-masked-vigilante Oliver Queen. While Arrow lost its status as The CW's most-watched scripted original (The Flash overtook it in that race), its influence was felt in all of Berlanti's following dramas, and even in Netflix's Marvel series Daredevil and The Punisher. Arrow essentially carved out the space for modern superhero shows that both embraced a gritty sense of reality while paying homage to their heightened comic book roots.

The decision for the Arrow ending came as the CW prepares to launch "the next generation of shows to keep The CW DC universe going for as long as possible," CW President Mark Pedowitz told reporters in January at the Television Critics Association's winter press tour. That new generation will be led by the highly anticipated Ruby Rose-starring series Batwoman.

Arrow showrunner Beth Schwartz and executive producers Berlanti and Marc Guggenheim said of the Arrow ending in a joint statement:

"This was a difficult decision to come to, but like every hard decision we've made for the past seven years, it was with the best interests of Arrow in mind. We're heartened by the fact that Arrow has birthed an entire universe of shows that will continue on for many years to come. We're excited about crafting a conclusion that honors the show, its characters and its legacy and are grateful to all the writers, producers, actors, and — more importantly — the incredible crew that has sustained us and the show for over seven years."

Amell added on Instagram, "It's been one hell of a run. I promise we'll finish the way we started."

While I've never watched Arrow past its first season (I couldn't get past the series taking all of Batman's attributes and villains), I recognize the impact it had on the modern era of superhero TV. When it premiered in 2012, Arrow helped usher in a new era of comic book adaptations on the small screen, with The Flash spin-off and ABC's Marvel's Agents of SHIELD soon following. Now you can't turn your head without running into another superhero show on broadcast or streaming. Arrow may not have been a perfect series, but it was an important. And in that regard, it didn't fail this city.