Though Stephen Amell currently portrays Green Arrow, better known in the non-vigilante world as the Oliver Queen, one could very well call him The Flash when it comes to finding new work to potentially serve as his big post-Arrow project. Season 8 of the CW super-drama is currently in production, but Amell already has a new TV gig in the works!
UPDATE: Not long after this story went live, the news broke detailing what Stephen Amell's new show will be. He has signed on for the Starz drama Heels, which is getting eight episodes to tell the story of a small town fully invested in the world of professional wrestling. Amell will play the more villainous of two brothers left in charge of a family wrestling promotion after their father dies. Former Yes Dear star Mike O'Malley will serve as the showrunner and executive producer. (The rest of this article remains as it was at the time of posting.)
Much like Arrow's final batch of episodes, Stephen Amell's new TV project doesn't have a whole lot of details floating about just yet, but it appears they're coming soon. Here's how the actor put it:
I've recently closed on a new project that I'm really excited about that I am not allowed to talk about. It's on TV. I thought that the news was going to break last night, and I was kind of excited to talk about it today. . . . But something, something very soon.
Stephen Amell shared that exciting news while speaking during the Arrow panel at the Fan Expo Boston 2019. After this many years as the head of the Arrow-verse's onscreen ensemble, Amell knows that fans anticipate Amell letting interesting tidbits slip during his many convention appearances, interviews and social media Q&As. But I'm not sure that tons of people would have expected him to break the news that he is already laying the groundwork for the next chapter in his career, which presumably won't involve as many salmon ladders and hoods.
The way Stephen Amell worded his answer, it doesn't sound like he's necessarily going to be the leading star for the currently secret new project. Having put himself through the wringer as an actor on Arrow, it's possible that Amell may be looking to get into more behind-the-scenes efforts in the future. He's at a point in his career where he could possibly follow in Arrow co-creator Greg Berlanti's footprints in terms of becoming a TV mega-producer.
All that said, no one should fully expect Stephen Amell to stray too far from acting, even if he definitely won't be putting his body on the line in the wrestling ring anymore. He hasn't exactly been prolific for non-Arrow-verse projects during the last 7 years, with his most noteworthy other-role arguably being Casey Jones in 2016's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows.
However, once Amell is no longer tethered to a 22-episode-a-year schedule (with filming set in Vancouver), he could start adding lots of various credits to his acting resume. If he takes on a cable or streaming show next, the number of episodes would be drastically different than The CW's broadcast mold. Amell could technically take on two or three different shows while expending the same energy he put into Arrow and its various spinoffs.
Stephen Amell does have one upcoming project that fans will assumedly be able to check out later this year. He and cousin Robbie Amell are co-starring in the sci-fi feature Code 8, from director Jeff Chan. Set in a world that also features ability-enhanced humans, Code 8 is an expanded take on Chan's 2016 short film of the same name. Both Stephen and Robbie Amell took part in the original short, though the former only voiced a character, as opposed to appearing in person.
Considering Stephen Amell thought that he was going to be able to talk about his new project during Fan Expo Boston 2019, it's very likely that more news about the project will be revealed in the very near future. And there's at least a 20% chance that Amell will still be the one to let it slip before press releases go out.
There's no telling how long we'll have to wait to see Stephen Amell's new project take shape, so for now, it's best to focus all that excitement and anticipation on Arrow's ten-episode final season, which may actually give these characters a happy ending. Season 8 will start up on The CW on Tuesday, October 15, at 9:00 p.m. Also expect Amell's Oliver Queen to play a major role in the upcoming "Crisis on Infinite Earths" crossover, considering he already got scooped up by The Monitor in the Season 7 finale.
