Oliver Queen for Mayor! It happened in the comic book and now it’s happening on Arrow — Oliver Queen is running to be Star City’s next Mayor. Oliver’s quest won’t be without challenges from those in the city.
Stephen Amell (Oliver Queen/Green Arrow) spoke with reporters on set in Vancouver last week about Oliver’s political journey and those who will support his run for Mayor and those who will stand in his way.
Oliver’s Run for Mayor
Amell: “There’s a photo that exists for the next episode where we see him behind a podium. It’s very atyptical for our show to announce something in an episode and then leave it dormant for an episode which we did this week because other things were going on. It has been something that I’ve very much enjoyed.
There are two aspects of Oliver’s character this year — probably three — He’s a different person out in the field, he’s a different type of person in the political arena, and then there’s a third storyline we’re going to explore in the first third of the year that’s also different. Being eighty episodes into a show, it’s exciting to play different things and I like Oliver the Politician and I also like anything that naturally weaves into the canon Green Arrow character.”
The Reaction to Oliver’s Political Aspirations
Amell: “Slightly incredulous. Everyone has their various reactions. Once the team figures this out, Oliver actually says I’ve got to talk to Lance to which Laurel responds, ‘Ah, maybe don’t bring that up with him.’ I’m just like, we need the SCPD. It’s an Oliver Queen who has to work with people. It’s exciting.
[Felicity] is very supportive of it. It galvanizes their relationship and it actually really works well for his relationship with Thea as well. She becomes involved in his campaign.”
Oliver vs. Damien Darhk
Amell: “[The Run for Mayor] allows us to begin to establish an interesting dynamic between Oliver and Damien Darhk. While the dynamic continues to exist between Green Arrow and Damien Darhk, as we saw in the second episode this year, Darhk does not react too kindly to people running for Mayor. He doesn’t want anyone to be Mayor. He doesn’t want any galvanizing force or goodness in the city. So this puts everyone at odds. … There is an interesting cat and mouse game developing between Oliver and Damien.”
Separating Oliver and Green Arrow
Amell: “The whole idea of running for Mayor– intrinsic in it is that we are going to separate the Oliver Queen and the Green Arrow character because Oliver Queen as a man representing the city can do things that Green Arrow can’t.
The Green Arrow can take down the city’s criminals, but he can’t rally a crowd with a speech. That’s one of the things I’ve really enjoyed doing this year. I’ve had more speeches this year, both good and bad than I’ve probably had the first three seasons combined. We definitely want to keep those two things separate.”
Check out the video interview with Stephen Amell
Arrow airs Wednesdays at 8pm ET on the CW.
(Image courtesy of the CW/Video: Carla Day)
Contributing Writer, BuddyTV
Contributing Editor and Writer for Collider, BuddyTV, TV Fanatic, CliqueClack, and other publications. TV criticism, reviews, interviews with actors and producers, and other related content. Founder of TV Diehard.
