Stephen Amell opens up about his reaction to the Peacemaker TV show's approach to Green Arrow in the DCEU. One of the few TV series that came out of the DCEU movie timeline was Peacemaker, serving as a continuation of John Cena's titular hero from The Suicide Squad. As Peacemaker season 1 became an instant success for Warner Bros., it is set to continue for another season, only this time being part of James Gunn's DC Universe.
In a new interview with Chris Van Vliet, Amell's reaction to how Peacemaker season 1 made fun of Green Arrow was brought up. As Amell was asked about it, the Arrowverse actor opened up about how he was tired of how the franchise was slammed in comparison to the DCEU, sharing the following:
That was a little unnecessary. I didn’t f***ing appreciate that at all. Okay. I am just going to come right out and say this. There was just such...between the movies and Peacemaker a little bit...our show was kind of treated like s**t. I get it, we’re on The CW, I get it, it’s TV.
But I also get the fact that when people think about the most recent iteration of DC, they don’t think about the Snyder Cut - they think about the Arrowverse. We got c*****d on for years, and years, and years, and this just seemed excessive. I’m not actually mad, but I just remember hearing that and just being like, 'F*** those guys,' like seriously.
I’m up here. I’m working just as hard as anyone else. Do you know how hard it is to play a superhero with no superpowers for 23 episodes a year? It’s really, really, really hard, and I’m not looking for a prize, but, like, maybe don’t s**t on our show. If I should be mad at anyone, it should be James Gunn for writing that in the first place. But [John Cena] could not be a nicer guy. It’s not a personal vendetta against [Cena].
Stephen Amell's Original Peacemaker Reaction Explained
In the Peacemaker season 1 finale, Oliver Queen, a.k.a. Green Arrow, gets mentioned for the first time in the DCEU. However, this reference is not related to any of his acts of heroism, but instead makes a jab at the Emerald Archer, as Peacemaker describes the crime fighter as "That dude goes to Brony conventions dressed as the back half of Twilight Sparkle with a four-inch-wide butthole drilled In the costume." While this line appeared to be more reflective of Peacemaker's perspective on the superhero than the DCEU reality, not everyone was thrilled by it.
Amell was asked on X (formerly known as Twitter) if he had seen the Peacemaker finale and what he thought of hearing Green Arrow being name-dropped for the first time in the DCEU. Amell gave his response about Peacemaker's Green Arrow commentary, stating "Haven’t seen it. Too busy showing Cena what professional wrestling should actually look like on tv," in reference to his time in the wrestling show Heels.
Time will tell if Green Arrow will be part of Gunn's DC Universe and whether or not that version of Oliver will ever get to share the screen with Peacemaker. With heroes like the Green Lanterns and Booster Gold being in the initial DC Universe lineup, the prospect of Green Arrow getting a new live-action iteration certainly seems a possibility for the franchise's impending future. Hopefully, it won't be long until more news on Peacemaker season 2 starts to roll out.
