Stephen Amell, star of The CW’s superhero series Arrow, announced yesterday on Twitter that his show will be coming to an end next season after a shortened ten-episode run:
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
The news itself does not come as much of a surprise because rumors have already been floating around that the show would end, but the announcement could act as somewhat of a spoiler. The annual cross-over event for the Arrow-verse shows next season will be Crisis on Infinite Earths which is expected to shake things up and possibly result in the death of one or more major heroes. And the Elseworlds cross-over from this season has already teased the fate of Oliver Queen. Amell did later say on Facebook that “something tells me, even when I’m done, I won’t be gone”, suggesting his character may not meet his demise or that an alternate-Earth version will survive.
Since rumors started floating around that two or more of the Arrow-verse shows would come to an end next year, Arrow has been considered the most likely to go (do we now rename it the Flash-verse?) and Legends of Tomorrow is likely the next on the chopping block. Both are among the lower-rated superhero shows on The CW, and the latter entry is definitely costly to produce. I have also heard a rumor that Supergirl could end and be replaced by a Superman series, but I have heard nothing official to suggest that the network is developing a show based on the Man of Steel (and this year’s crop of pilots are already in production). But The CW’s president Mark Pedowitz has suggested the possibility of a second phase of superhero shows and we do know that they are targeting adding Batwoman to the lineup next season. So it is possible that we could see more casualties among the current shows and characters and that more new shows could be on the way.
As we head into the final months of the regular season, expect more news as well as renewal and cancellation announcements. Be sure to stay tuned to this site and the Cancelled Sci Fi Twitter Site for breaking news as well as the latest ratings results.
