We’ve known for a while that Arrow Season 8 would be the final season of the CW’s longest-running arrow-verse show. The cast -- and particularly Stephen Amell – are pretty choked up about the show ending, even though Amell has previously talked about it being his decision to move on and that he approached Greg Berlanti about wrapping the show. Now, he has opened up about the series finale of Arrow and what to expect.
On the bright side for Arrow, Stephen Amell says Arrow is going to end the series on a happy note, although it was clear from the audience reaction that no one believed him. He stated:
No, Marc [Guggenheim] and I were talking earlier. Arrow has a happy ending. [Crowd laughs]. You know that I tell you guys what happens on the show and I tell you in plain sight and you just don’t hear me.
To the audience’s credit, while at Comic-Con Stephen Amell choked up about the drama ending it's run, so it's definitely an emotional time for everyone. However, a happy ending could be a thing that does happen for Green Arrow and his team. We'll have to wait and see, although I would like to say if we're comparing to Game of Thrones, that show's ending was described as "bittersweet."
In fact, speaking of Game of Thrones, when a fan at Comic-Con straight up asked Amell whether or not Arrow’s finale would best that of Game of Thrones, he answered jokingly before teasing more about where the show is heading for it’s final lap around the track. He noted:
I’m the wrong person to answer this question because I loved the last season of Game of Thrones. If you all hate our finale, I’ll know we have done a good job.
Stephen Amell seemingly equates people getting in a tizzy about a show ending to ultimate greatness, which is interesting, because earlier at Comic-Con, Game of Thrones actor Nicolaj Coster-Waldau, who played Jaime Lannister, said much the same thing, noting there have always been criticisms of the HBO show and that’s how he knows people were upset the series was ending.
On the bright side, Arrow’s James Bamford also mentioned that in the final season they were able to shoot sequences they "didn't think they were capable of" before. So, if you have been a fan of the show for years, hopefully the last round of episodes will bring enough new stuff in to excited and entertain, no matter the tone of the ending.
Earlier in the panel, it was mentioned that at an early Comic-Con the show attended, Stephen Amell had noted “if we do this right, we could run for 10 years.” Ultimately, the show decided to cut out a little early, and producer Marc Guggenheim mentioned that cost logistics and wanting to go out while the show was still popular or “while people were watching the show” were factors explaining why the series won’t ultimately make it to Season 10, as well.
However, if this happy ending holds true, there should always be opportunities for the Arrow characters to make brief appearances in the universe moving forward. Batwoman talked at the big show about how Gotham is on Earth-1, thus the previous introduction.
All shows will be crossing over this year in the five-episode epic “Crisis on Infinite Earths” and we can’t wait to see which characters in the universe get to interact before Green Arrow finally hangs up his hood.
We won’t have too much longer to wait. Arrow will return to the CW on Tuesday, October 15. To find out when the rest of your favorites are returning this fall, take a look at our full premiere schedule.
