9:07AM: Finding the titular character for The CW’s latest comic book adaptation wasn’t nearly as challenging as one might expect thanks in no small part to a smarter-than-your-average casting director who didn’t only ensure that actor Stephen Amell was the first actor to auditin, but informed the proverbial powers that be that “this guy would not be around on Thursday.”
9:08AM: Multiple iterations of Spider-Man, Superman and Batman have conditioned audiences to embrace fresh faces behind the mask (or in the case of ARROW’s titular character, hood). Explains executive producer Marc Guggenheim, “Michael Keaton doesn’t affect your love of Christian Bale and Christian Bale doesn’t affect your love of Adam West.”
9:09AM: Fun Fact: In preparing for the role, Amell trained with Superman’s (Henry Cavill) body double.
9:11AM: Despite gaining inspiration from the pages of Green Arrow:Year One and The Longbow Hunters, this latest Green Arrow adaptation is taking some liberties in its translation from page to screen. Guggenheim sights the general public’s lack of familiarity with Arrow’s origins as an asset, affording the writer’s with more room to play.
9:13AM: ARROW’s darker tone will allow the show to explore the nature of vigilantism. ARROW’s twenty-two episode first season will afford the writers the opportunity to get into the rules. With the first one being, Arrow will always give the bad guy the opportunity to do the right thing.
9:14AM: While the series will initially have a very bad-guy-of-the-week feel to it, that story structure will be fleeting. At least according to the producers who promise that Oliver’s evolution as a hero will not only transition from a mission of revenge to a mission of redemption, but see him moving away from his father’s list of vengeance to starting to help people and save Starling City.
9:16AM: “Maybe,” is all Executive Producer Greg Berlanti would say as to the question as whether or not Katie Cassidy’s Dinah “Laurel” Lance will become Black Canary.
9:20AM: Every episode of ARROW will feature flashbacks with the goal of chronologically revealing what happened to Oliver on the island. “Ideally, the last episode of the series will have Oliver seeing the boat that rescues him in the pilot.”
9:21AM: Spoiler Alert! Fans shouldn’t judge Oliver’s mom Moira (Susanna Thompson) based on her morally ambiguous actions in the pilot.
9:22AM: For any fans who may-or-may-not be interested in get up close and personal with ARROW star Stephen Amell, his ‘island’ scenes are shot in Whytecliff Park just outside of Vancouver.
9:23AM: Star Stephen Amell started his bow and arrow training by watching a 45 minute video compiled by his instructor featuring all the ways in which archery has been done poorly in film and television.
9:24AM: “It’s incredibly important to be responsible,” admits Guggenheim in response to a question about how the writer’s deal with writing a show about a vigilante who takes justice into his own hands. “Of course Aurora came up in the writer’s room because we’re all human beings and it was a terrible tragedy. That said, I actually think this show has an opportunity to explore the consequences of violence in a way other shows cannot because we’re going to look at all of the different facets of vigilantism, taking the law into your own hand and I hope going forward we’ll provide social commentary alongside the action in the show.”
9:26AM: EP Andrew Kreisberg states that DC and the WB Film unit have, not surprisingly, been very supportive of the show. DC head honcho Geoff Johns offers commentary, feedback, while the WB Film unit connected the team with Oscar-winning Costume Designer Colleen Atwood for Arrow’s killer hood.