Based on the DC Comics character Green Arrow, a costumed crime-fighter created by Mort Weisinger and George Papp, Arrow is an American superhero television series developed by Greg Berlanti, Marc Guggenheim, and Andrew Kreisberg. The show is set in the Arrowverse among other related television shows. The CW hosted the American premiere of the series on October 10, 2012; most of the filming took place in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The CW announced in March that the eighth season, which consists of 10 episodes, would be the series’ final one when it renewed the show in January 2019. The “Crisis on Infinite Earths” crossover event debuted with the season on October 15, 2019, and the series finale aired on January 28, 2020.

Arrow follows billionaire playboy Oliver Queen (Stephen Amell), who claimed to have spent five years shipwrecked on Lian Yu, a mysterious island in the North China Sea, before returning home to Starling City (later renamed “Star City”) to fight crime and corruption as a secret vigilante whose weapon of choice is a bow and arrow. Throughout the series, Oliver is joined by others, among them former soldier John Diggle (David Ramsey), I.T. expert and skilled hacker Felicity Smoak (Emily Bett Rickards), former assassin Sara Lance (Caity Lotz), aspiring vigilante Roy Harper (Colton Haynes), Oliver’s sister Thea (Willa Holland), and attorney-turned-vigilante Laurel Lance (Katie Cassidy). During the first five seasons of the show, characters from Oliver’s past appear in a separate story arc based on Oliver’s flashbacks. Starting with season seven, a series of flash-forwards focus on Oliver’s children William (Ben Lewis) and Mia (Katherine McNamara), exploring how present events would affect their future and Green Arrow’s legacy.

The series takes a new look at the Green Arrow character, as well as other characters from the DC Comics universe. Although Oliver Queen / Green Arrow had been featured in the television series Smallville from 2006 to 2011, on The CW, the producers decided to start clean and find a new actor to portray the character. Arrow has received generally positive reviews from critics. The series has received several awards and multiple nominations.

In October 2014, a spin-off TV series titled The Flash premiered. This was the first extension of the shared “Arrowverse” universe. The Flash was later followed in 2015 with Vixen and Supergirl, in 2016 with Legends of Tomorrow, in 2017 with Freedom Fighters: The Ray, and in 2019 with Batwoman, which are all part of the same shared universe.