The CW's Arrow went through a lot of changes in Season 5, ranging from Oliver adding "Green" to his vigilante name to introducing a magical supervillain to vex the team. The most visible change to Arrow, however, had to be the updated Arrow suit. Oliver needed a replacement after his old suit and hood were confiscated by the police in the second half of Season 3, and Cisco Ramon provided. Oliver added some armor and lost the sleeves for Season 4. Now, according to Arrow star Stephen Amell, there will be some additional aesthetic changes for Season 5.
New Arrow suit this year, by the way. A slightly modified version.
Stephen Amell's reveal -- which was unexpectedly sweaty and breathless -- via his Facebook page comes as a surprise. The new suit was a pretty huge deal for Season 4 as it marked a visible change from the Arrow -- who is theoretically dead to the citizens of Star City -- to the more hopeful Green Arrow. It was also a change from the suit that was original to the Arrow version of Oliver Queen to a suit in line with the Oliver Queen of DC comics.
Technically, Oliver's suit has gotten an update at least once every season since the first. In Season 2, Barry Allen gave him a mask to replace the useless greasepaint method of concealing his face. In Season 3, Cisco Ramon gave him the first major update by adding heavier protection to the long-sleeved jacket. The Season 4 change was drastic but precedented. It should be interesting to see if Arrow goes the subtle route for slightly modifying the suit or makes a big alteration.
Personally, I'm psyched that the Arrow suit is going to be different in Season 5. As much as the change was important to show the difference between the Arrow and the Green Arrow, and as much as it was a fitting way to show off all the work that Stephen Amell puts into his arm muscles, the sleevelessness struck me as silly for most of the season. Oliver has never had super hard skin or super healing skills that could prevent him from taking injuries, and losing thick leather sleeves was a great way for him to get hurt in super avoidable ways. Besides, he gets a lot of projectiles sent his way. Light skin shows up out of the darkness, especially compared to the relative urban camouflage of his previous crime-fighting ensemble:
I also thought that the Season 4 suit made him look bulkier and much less sleek with the shoulder pads and heavy hood, so I'm hoping for a return to a suit similar to Seasons 1 -- 3. Arrow has always been an adaptation of the comics for an original show rather than a translation from page to screen; a realistic suit would make more sense than the one from the comics.
Only time will tell what happens next for Oliver Queen and his suit as the Green Arrow. Unfortunately, Arrow is currently on hiatus, and it'll be a while before we get to see him in action in the new duds. Check out what we know so far about Arrow Season 5 for a peek ahead at what's to come.
