Arrow
Series, 2012, Star City, Set in Oliver Queen comes home
Arrow is #1 of 10 in release order and #1 of 10 in chronological order in the Arrowverse.
The story
Spoiled billionaire playboy Oliver Queen is missing and presumed dead when his yacht is lost at sea. He returns five years later a changed man, determined to clean up the city as a hooded vigilante armed with a bow.
Arrow recap
In season 1, Oliver Queen returns to Starling City after five years presumed dead on the island of Lian Yu and hunts the corrupt people named in his late father's notebook as a hooded vigilante, joined by bodyguard John Diggle and IT expert Felicity Smoak. Malcolm Merlyn, the father of Oliver's best friend Tommy, sets off an earthquake device in the Glades, and Tommy dies. Flashbacks across the seasons fill in Oliver's missing years. In season 2, Oliver calls himself the Arrow, and Slade Wilson, his friend from the island, returns as Deathstroke with an army made super-strong by a serum called Mirakuru; he kills Oliver's mother, Moira. Sara Lance returns as the Canary. In season 3, Sara is murdered, and Oliver faces Ra's al Ghul of the League of Assassins, who wants him as his heir; Laurel Lance becomes the Black Canary. In season 4, as the Green Arrow, Oliver fights Damien Darhk, a magic user who kills Laurel and plans to destroy the world, and runs for mayor. In season 5, Mayor Queen trains new recruits and is hunted by Prometheus, Adrian Chase, whose father Oliver killed. In season 6, Oliver raises his son William, the team splits, and the crime lord Ricardo Diaz takes over the city; Oliver is exposed as the Green Arrow and goes to prison. In season 7, he gets out, meets his half-sister Emiko, and flash-forwards to 2040 follow his grown children, William and Mia. In season 8, Oliver works for the Monitor to prepare for the Crisis, which destroys the multiverse.
Arrow ending explained
The series ends with Oliver's funeral. In Crisis on Infinite Earths, Oliver sacrifices himself, becomes the Spectre and restarts the universe as Earth-Prime, where many of his loved ones are alive again. In the finale, his family and friends gather to remember him, and the Monitor takes Felicity to an afterlife where Oliver is waiting for her. Mia continues as the Green Arrow.
Where to watch Arrow
Arrow is streaming on Prime Video and Pluto TV in the US. You can rent or buy it on Amazon, Apple TV, and Google Play.
Ratings
IMDb 7.5/10, Rotten Tomatoes 86%
Where it fits
What to watch before Arrow
Nothing. Arrow is the first of the Arrowverse essentials, so it's the place to start.
Cast
- Stephen Amell as Oliver Queen / Green Arrow
- David Ramsey as John Diggle / Spartan
- Emily Bett Rickards as Felicity Smoak
- Katie Cassidy as Laurel Lance / Black Canary
- Paul Blackthorne as Quentin Lance
- Willa Holland as Thea Queen
- Rick Gonzalez as Rene Ramirez
- John Barrowman as Malcolm Merlyn
- Colton Haynes as Roy Harper / Arsenal
- Juliana Harkavy as Dinah Drake / Black Canary
- Echo Kellum as Curtis Holt
- Susanna Thompson as Moira Queen
Created by Andrew Kreisberg, Greg Berlanti, Marc Guggenheim.