ARROW Producer On BATMAN BEGINS Similarities; Liam Neeson WAS Approached For Ra's Al Ghul

ARROW Producer On BATMAN BEGINS Similarities; Liam Neeson WAS Approached For Ra's Al Ghul

Some fans noted the similarities between the Vertigo featured in last night's Arrow and the fear toxin created by Ra's al Ghul and the Scarecrow in Batman Begins. Are they linked? Marc Guggenheim addresses that and a new report reveals Liam Neeson was approached by The CW...

By JoshWilding - Oct 09, 2014 05:10 PM EST
Filed Under: Arrow

When Oliver Queen was facing off against the new Count Vertigo in last night's episode of Arrow, he received an unwanted dose of a very different version of the drug. Bringing out his worst fear, the similarities to Ra's al Ghul's hallucinogen from Batman Begins were easily spotted. Could it be that it's all connected? Could Ra's be working with Vertigo to try and do to Starling City what he failed to do in Gotham? Nope. "Total coincidence," says executive producer Marc Guggenheim in an interview with Entertainment Weekly. "Its presence in [the premiere] was really designed to [show] that Oliver is struggling with the theme of identity. We certainly talked about that in the writers’ room,” he continues. “‘Are people going to think we’re doing the same thing as Batman Begins?’ But ultimately, for us, character and theme pretty much trump everything else and we were like, ‘No, we’re doing our own thing.'" Oh well. Talking of Batman Begins though, Watchtower of Babel News point to a Buzzfeed feature in which they reveal that Liam Neeson was approached to reprise the role of Ra's al Ghul in The CW. They quote network president Mark Pedowitz as saying they were "thrilled" to hear he was open to the idea, but "We never thought he would. We quickly went to him, just on the off-chance that he had the time to do it."
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27ShowStopper
27ShowStopper - 10/9/2014, 5:47 PM
I fkn love DC!
Koop
Koop - 10/9/2014, 5:48 PM
Am I first?
Koop
Koop - 10/9/2014, 5:48 PM
Nope
Koop
Koop - 10/9/2014, 5:48 PM
But it would have been sick to have Neeson back.
TheBuoyWonder
TheBuoyWonder - 10/9/2014, 5:49 PM
...why did they not go with Nelson then?
RichardGrayson
RichardGrayson - 10/9/2014, 5:53 PM
DC fan til the day i die!
JorL5150
JorL5150 - 10/9/2014, 5:57 PM
Having Liam as rhas would automatically grandfather the Nolan batman in.

(Even if officially it didnt 99% of viewers would infer it that way)

I'd love to see that happen but I bet @Gusto 's third testicle Nolan has that shit locked up airtight.
mbembet
mbembet - 10/9/2014, 5:57 PM
Batman Begins was great so yeah there's nothing wrong with ripping off great movie :)
sbdc1939
sbdc1939 - 10/9/2014, 5:58 PM
that's awesome. They would of done it they could had. and that is awesome enough.
LeonNova
LeonNova - 10/9/2014, 6:05 PM
It would have been beyond awesome if they could have got Liam Neeson in Arrow, just imagine how many more people would have watched the show off his name alone. But realistically there would have been no chance that his schedule would be open to shoot almost an entire season of a TV show.
McGee
McGee - 10/9/2014, 6:10 PM
Liam Neeson WAS Approached For Ra's Al Ghul






BANEofExistence
BANEofExistence - 10/9/2014, 6:10 PM
coincidence my ass
McGee
McGee - 10/9/2014, 6:17 PM
Pasto's Reaction:






Nomis' Reaction:

imthedoctor
imthedoctor - 10/9/2014, 6:17 PM
The *ENTIRE FIRST SEASON* of Arrow was nearly a line-for-line identical copy of Batman Begins, only with Green Arrow instead of Batman. lol.
Owlman88
Owlman88 - 10/9/2014, 6:18 PM
apparently Liam Neeson had no time for shooting a whole season, good choice from him, avoiding what Devon Aoki's mistake.

I would love to see Devon as Katana anyway.
MrBlackJack
MrBlackJack - 10/9/2014, 6:19 PM
A "total coincidence"?

homodrome
homodrome - 10/9/2014, 6:21 PM
@ImTheDoctor

I'm scared for you. Like seriously there is a good chance wacko fanboys are gonna black bag you in the night.

homodrome
homodrome - 10/9/2014, 6:24 PM
In all honesty though, it would have been jarring to have Liam Neeson on Arrow. Like that level of celebrity cameo would take me out of the moment. I'm excited for this portrayal, seems like it's closed to the comics which is good. Especially considering how Arrow tries to go for grounded.
NoPhucksGiven
NoPhucksGiven - 10/9/2014, 6:31 PM
[frick]. So close.
Timerider84
Timerider84 - 10/9/2014, 6:54 PM
You know what would be cool, if he does reprise his role, then when ratings drop, all they have to do is have Christian Bale make an appearance as Bruce Wayne talking to Oliver Queen. The ratings would go through the roof. If you have Liam Neeson as Ra's Al Ghul, that means Christian Bale is Bruce Wayne...Right??
DCGuy
DCGuy - 10/9/2014, 7:01 PM
DC RULES!
GhostDog
GhostDog - 10/9/2014, 7:31 PM
Coincidence??? Get the [frick] out. Writers knew exactly what they were doing. Everyone knows about Scarecrow and fear gas. The scarecrow similarity is tooooooo dead on. Coincidence is a lame ass excuse. Approached Liam....interesting.
GhostDog
GhostDog - 10/9/2014, 7:32 PM
I love Arrow but the first season was like Batman Begins Lite. It was like BB if it were 23 hours long.
Batmantis
Batmantis - 10/9/2014, 7:37 PM
There was a scene in season one that was straight out of Batman Begins with Arrow getting set on fire and using his phone for help. It was kind of blatant.
Himura
Himura - 10/9/2014, 9:14 PM
I think we all know that if Liam was cast as Ras EVERYONE wouldve automatically assume this is set in the Begins universe
loki668
loki668 - 10/9/2014, 11:46 PM
They approached Liam Neeson about what it would take to bring him to the show. Neeson wrote a figure, on a sheet of paper. The CW executive read the figure, went into a catatonic state, and now everyone is just waiting for the guy to come out of his coma to tell them how bad it was.
BigChinese
BigChinese - 10/10/2014, 1:50 AM
Liam will not be free until he has finished the 43th sequel of Taken. He will be around 89 by then.
SaxoWolf
SaxoWolf - 10/10/2014, 2:02 AM
spiderman620
spiderman620 - 10/10/2014, 5:41 AM
im sure everyone has caught this already, but has anyone noticed how blonde Laurel's hair has gotten this season on Arrow? is it safe to say she will suit up at some point this season?
ChuckV
ChuckV - 10/10/2014, 5:53 AM
I'm anxious for a different portrayal of Ra's Al Ghul. Arrow should stay clear of the Nolanverse and further establish its own world.
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