When you look at how far superhero shows on television have come in the past few years it all circles back to one show that made it all possible five years ago: Arrow. And the one person that couldn’t be more proud of that accomplishment is the Green Arrow himself Stephen Amell.
“Go look at all the new shows that came out in 2012 across over the broadcast networks; like literally all of them,” he told us during a roundtable interview at San Diego Comic-Con. “We’re the only one left. I feel like there’s an accomplishment there. That doesn’t speak to the quality of your show necessarily, but you obviously have to keep moving and keep raising the bar. But the fact that we’re still here. That’s really something.”
When we last left Oliver in season five, he was stepping into the role of Star City’s mayor with the promise of uniting the city following the fourth terrorist attack on this city. But Amell told us that it’s not exactly smooth sailing for Oliver on the mayoral front due to the current situation of Team Arrow, which found Diggle and Thea taking a step back to reevaluate.
“He’s doing a shit job as mayor,” Amell said. “He’s doing a bad job as mayor because there’s no team. It’s just him. Which means that he’s spending all of his time being the Green Arrow and no time being the mayor. And that’s a big point of contention between him and Thea and him and Felicity a little bit.”
In fact, it’s another Queen that steps up in Oliver’s sort of “absence.”
“Thea basically is the mayor because I’m not doing anything,” Amell said. “Any PR snafus and anything like that. That’s all Thea handling that stuff. Oliver’s like, I’m busy doing other stuff because Star City is not in good shape.”
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The separation of Team Arrow following the season four finale is definitely something that will shape the beginning of season five as Oliver and Felicity try to find a solution.
“One of the big points of contention in the beginning part of the season is between the remaining two members of Team Arrow, which are Oliver and Felicity,” he said. “Felicity wants a new team. Oliver wants things to go back to the way they were; wants Diggle back, wants Thea back. The first couple of episodes are about him coming to the realization that they’re probably not coming back. As a result of that he’s going to have to train some new team members.
And of course one of the hot topics of the coming season rests with the future of Oliver and Felicity. Following the two breaking up following some trust issues mid-season four, it seems as if the two of them are getting back on track. But don’t expect romance right out of the gate.
“I think there’s a good trust and good business partnership and teamwork between the two of them,” Amell said. “But from a romantic standpoint they haven’t gone back that way.”
Not yet.
Watch our full interview with Amell where he discusses what he’d like to explore with Oliver, how Cody Rhodes got his Arrow gig, and more.
Arrow season 5 premieres Wednesday, Oct. 5 at 8/7c on The CW.
