‘Arrow’ Stars Stephen Amell and David Ramsey Spill Secrets at Motor City Comic Con 2025
Arrow is one of the most iconic superhero television series ever made, not least because it kickstarted an entire DC Universe on the small screen. Recently, the DC series stars Stephen Amell and David Ramsey reunited onstage at Motor City Comic Con 2025 to discuss the show and answer burning questions from fans.
[Editor’s note: quotes may be edited slightly for clarity.]
Green Lantern and other DC characters
Top of mind for audience members was what happened to John Diggle after he seemingly picked up a Green Lantern ring in the Arrow series finale. Although Diggle later returned in The Flash, he ultimately rejected the ring.
David Ramsey said, “Marc [Guggenheim] and I tried for six seasons. There are a lot of politics around a property as big as [DC]. It would’ve been great. It wasn’t for lack of trying, but the right decision was made. There was so much going on at the time. I think [DC is] in the hands it should be in now. The reason why Diggle didn’t become a Lantern was on point for his character.”
Diggle not becoming a Lantern was a shame, especially considering the lack of Green Lantern content nowadays, but it sounds like Ramsey understood why the choice was made from both a creative and business perspective.
Although John Stewart never became a reality, when asked which characters he was surprised Arrow paved the way for, Stephen Amell had a lot to say about superpowers. “We were the superhero show that wasn’t supposed to have superpowers, but Marc and Greg Berlanti brought me into their office after the first season and said, ‘Hey, the show did well; we’re allowed to use Flash, so things are going to change.’ [You] roll with it and try to deal with the challenge, as an actor, to go from an episode of your show where you’re dealing with a street-level drug epidemic in Star City and then the next episode you’re on a spaceship. Those are the problems that you want when you’re creating a television show. Those are good problems.”
Stephen Amell on the past and future of Green Arrow
Stephen Amell also had some things he’d want to do a little differently in a season 8 of Arrow if he could. “Hindsight being what it is, it would’ve been great to maybe have a little more breathing room between the big giant crossover [Crisis on Infinite Earths] and the end of the show. I like what we did, [I’m] not saying I would want to go back and change it, but looking back, we did 10 episodes, and the crossover was in the 8th episode. Maybe [if we had] 16-18 episodes, [we could] let the dust settle and end the series on something a little more centric to Star City.”
James Gunn’s new DC Universe
Finally, both stars were asked about the new DCU. A fan asked, “If James Gunn asked you to come back as Green Arrow, would you? Or as a different character?” Amell responded, “Yeah, sure, man. I love playing the Green Arrow, I love playing Oliver Queen, but I think more than that, I love how it makes people feel. When I come to these conventions or [I’m] walking around, not a day goes by that someone doesn’t mention Green Arrow [and] how they feel and bonded with a sibling or parent over the series. I’m down to do anything that makes the fans happy. What does it look like? I have no idea. You don’t know until you know, and it doesn’t happen until it happens.”
Meanwhile, David Ramsey had a simple answer: “Darkseid. I just love Darkseid; I’ve always loved the character.”
It was fantastic to hear about the production of Arrow from two of the show’s main stars. The series had a great run, and while some people ridicule DC’s CW shows, they formed an entertaining superhero universe at a time when the film franchise was seriously struggling to do so. While the new DC Universe film franchise finds its footing, here’s hoping we get some Arrowverse cameos in future projects!
Also check out MCCC 2023: Stephen Amell, David Ramsey, & Emily Bett Rickards Reflect on Arrow
