Those who missed the Arrow panel at Comic-Con in San Diego last week can enjoy one of the highlights of the event, as a fan asked Arrow star Stephen Amell if he would say the opening monologue for him. Amell obliged, speaking from memory the words Oliver Queen states at the start of each episode. The cherry on the cake is when Amell adds on the "Previously on Arrow..."
As if we didn't have enough reasons to wish October were here so Arrow Season 3 would get underway, the sound of Stephen Amell speaking Oliver Queen's vow feels like one giant tease... or encouragement to rewatch the first two seasons. Amell actually merges the opening monologues of the first and second seasons, which differ slightly. In Season 1, Oliver says...
My name is Oliver Queen. For five years I was stranded on an island with only one goal - survive. Now I will fulfill my father's dying wish - to use the list of names he left me and bring down those who are poisoning my city. To do this, I must become someone else. I must become something else.
While the second season of Arrow loses the part about Oliver's father and focuses on honoring his friend and not being the killer he once was...
My name is Oliver Queen. After five years on a hellish island, I have come home with only one goal- to save my city. But to do that, I can't be the killer I once was. To honor my friend's memory, I must be someone else. I must be something else.
What will the Season 3 monologue say? It seems likely that if it's included, it'll change out the "honoring my friend's memory" and maybe focus on Oliver's current situation. When we spoke with the cast and writers in the pressroom at Comic-Con, Marc Guggenheim told us that Season 3 was going to be all about identity, and for Oliver, that means trying to figure out if he can be both Oliver and Arrow, or if he has to forfeit a personal life and his own needs and desires in exchange for being the Arrow. Whether or not that's addressed at all in the monologue remains to be seen.
In the meantime, I'm glad someone asked Amell to do the opening monologue and even gladder that he was able to do it. High five!
Watch the Season 3 extended trailer after the jump...
