The Flash's final season is fast approaching, and among the many big returns planned for the Scarlet Speedster's last adventure is Stephen Amell's Green Arrow.
The actor has made no secret of the fact he has mixed feelings about the way Oliver Queen's story ended in Crisis on Infinite Earths and Arrow, and he'll get one final chance to play the Emerald Archer in episode 9. During a recent interview with TV Line, The Flash showrunner Eric Wallace detailed what led to Amell's return as Ollie.
"I called up Greg [Berlanti] and said, 'I have a crazy idea. What if Oliver Queen came back...' and I pitched the story. He was like, 'I love it, let me call Stephen.' So he called Stephen, then called me back: 'Stephen loves it! Talk to him, pitch him the idea.'
"So I got on the phone with Stephen - and this is all happening within a span of 18 hours, mind you - and I walked him through it," Wallace added. "He said, 'I love it. But can we do this extra thing...?'" The showrunner doesn't reveal what that add-on is but calls it a "fantastic" idea that is now going to play out in The Flash's final season.
As for what leads to the fallen hero returning to the land of the living, all Wallace would say is, "We don’t change what has happened in the eight seasons of Arrow...we honour all of that. There won’t be a dry eye in the house at the end of that episode. It’s extremely emotional."
We're definitely intrigued to see where this story goes, and while Wallace has said The Flash doesn't change how Arrow ended, we can't help but hope this cameo ends with Oliver back among the living.
After all, these 13 episodes are where the Arrowverse ends, so there's really no harm in making a few changes that can leave fans with some exciting ideas in their minds about how the stories of these characters continue.
The Flash season 9 premieres on The CW on Wednesday, February 8 at 8/7c.