Stephen Amell is returning to network primetime TV later in the 2024 TV schedule, but his new starring role won't be on The CW or involve dressing up as a superhero to fight crime like his eight seasons of Arrow. After he was cast in the pilot for the Suits spinoff that was developing back in February, NBC has ordered the project to series and revealed the official description. Now, as any Suits viewer can surely guess, this show definitely isn't going to be set in a world of bow-wielding comic book heroes and villains, but I got some unexpected Arrow and Oliver Queen vibes from the newest info.
NBC announced the series order for Suits: L.A. on July 19, listing Stephen Amell as the top-billed actor and confirming Josh McDermitt, Lex Scott Davis, Bryan Greenberg, and Troy Winbush as cast members. (McDermitt's casting was initially announced not long after Amell's was in February.) Original Suits creator Aaron Korsh remains on board the Los Angeles-set spinoff as creator and executive producer.
But none of those details are what had me flashing back to my days of covering Arrow up until it ended in 2020. NBC also released the official description of the series and what Amell's character will be motivated to do. Take a look:
Ted Black, a former federal prosecutor from New York, has reinvented himself representing the most powerful clients in Los Angeles. His firm is at a crisis point and to survive he must embrace a role he held in contempt his entire career. Ted is surrounded by a stellar group of characters who test their loyalties to both Ted and each other while they can’t help but mix their personal and professional lives.
Do I think that Ted Black's backstory in New York that led to him reinventing himself in L.A. will be anywhere near as grim and bloody as Oliver Queen's backstory that led to him reinventing himself as the vengeful Green Arrow? Of course not, and I foresee far less green leather in Stephen Amell's future in the world of a legal drama than as star of the show that launched the whole Arrowverse.
But as somebody who did cover Arrow back in its heyday, I did have to laugh when I read about Stephen Amell's new character reinventing himself and embracing a role he never would have in his former life. An ensemble of characters whose loyalties are tested with bleed beteween their personal and professional lives? Talk about Team Arrow vibes!
Even though there may not be a ton of overlap between former Arrowverse viewers and NBC legal drama fans, it would be fun to get an Easter egg or two. Stephen Amell seems to have fond memories of his time as the Green Arrow, as he reflected on shooting the Arrow pilot as he was traveling to Vancouver to shoot another pilot back in March, which was presumably Suits: L.A.
If he was referring to Suits: L.A. in that post, it's curious that it was filming in Vancouver when the show is quite obviously set in Los Angeles. It's not unusual for series to film in British Columbia, but while it was easy to pass Canada off for the fictional Star(ling) City in Arrow, Vancouver and L.A. aren't quite interchangeable. The original Suits – which was set in New York City – did film in Canada.
For now, it hasn't be confirmed that he was headed north to film Suits: L.A.'s pilot in that post, and we can only speculate. The odds do seem good that the Suits spinoff getting a series order means that any dreams of Heels coming back are likely dead. At the time of writing, NBC hasn't announced when exactly to expect the show, and it wasn't in the lineup when the network confirmed the premieres of its two remaining Law & Order shows or any of the rest of its series.
NBC's Instagram post about the series order did say that Suits: LA is "officially coming your way on nbc and streaming on [Peacock] this fall." As the wait begins for the new show, you can always rewatch the original Suits with a Peacock Premium subscription and/or Arrow with a Netflix subscription.
