Arrow has been off the air now for almost three years, but one of its leading characters has maintained a recurring presence in the overall Arrowverse. David Ramsey’s John Diggle, who fought crime alongside Stephen Amell’s Oliver Queen, popped up on shows like The Flash, Supergirl and Batwoman, and in January, it was reported that a spinoff series for Diggle called Justice U was in development. So where to things currently stand with this project? Ramsey has shared an update.
You’ll recall that Justice U would see John Diggle running a mission involving five young metahumans going undercover at a prestigious university, and under his education and training, they’ll become the “heroes of tomorrow.” Along with his acting duties, David Ramsey will direct the pilot, and Superman & Lois’ Michael Narducci and Grey’s Anatomy’s Zoanne Clack are writing and executive producing. We haven’t heard anything else about what’s being planned for Justice U, but Ramey assured TV Line that the spinoff is still in the works with the following:
We’re on the second draft of a script, and we just closed the deal on a writer. I’m not sure I can say her name, so I won’t, but we’re very close to submitting our second draft. It’s still in development, and we’re moving forward.
Sometimes it takes longer than expected to craft a project, but as David Ramsey explained, a new writer is being brought aboard to work on Justice U, though he isn’t willing to disclose the identity of the woman. The point being, the plan remains for Justice U to move forward, so while it’s obviously too late for it to be ready this TV season, maybe enough pieces will fall into place in the coming months for the pilot to shoot sometime next year. After that, it’ll be up to The CW brass to decide if Justice U should be ordered to series or pass on it and let this be a one-and-done affair that the public will never see.
A lot has changed with the Arrowverse since Justice U was revealed to the public. Batwoman and Legends of Tomorrow were cancelled, The Flash is gearing up for its final season, and Superman & Lois was revealed to take place on a different Earth than Earth-Prime, thus making the Diggle on that show not the same one we followed along with on Arrow. So if Justice U is greenlit, this could be the only show to keep the main Arrowverse reality afloat by the time it starts airing. On The CW’s overall DC TV front, along with Superman & Lois coming back for Season 3, Stargirl’s third season is currently going and Gotham Knights will begin airing sometime in 2023.
In the Arrow series finale, before he and his family left for Metropolis, John Diggle saw a mysterious box from space emitting a green light crash in front of him. Diggle spent the next couple years trying to reopen the box and discover why it came to him, and he ultimately accomplished this in The Flash episode “The Man in the Yellow Tie” with Eobard Thawne’s help (no, it didn’t end up being a Green Lantern tease). However, the box disappeared after Diggle rejected its offer of cosmic power in favor of staying with his family. With that mystery solved, now the path is clear for him to embark on the journey set up for him in Justice U.
As soon as any major updates on Justice U come in, we’ll let you know. Until then, browse through our 2022 TV schedule to learn what shows are left to premiere this year.
