Less than a year after the end of Smallville and Justin Hartley’s take on the iconic DC Comics character, the CW has announced that they have cast their new Green Arrow for their pilot Arrow, which is intended to reboot the character for the small screen. His name is Stephen Amell and while I’m not familiar with him, his recent roles include guest spots on the network’s 90210 and The Vampire Diaries, so it is not too surprising to see him snag this high profile role. In addition to those teen favorite shows, Amell appeared on Hung and Private Practice.

The 30 year old Canadian native sure has the look for a young Oliver Queen, the wealthy playboy behind the mask and bow and arrow set. Smallville hit the nail on the head with the character, from his origin to reckless nature, so it should be interesting to see how they will shape his character differently to keep him fresh. David Nutter, the man behind the camera for Smallville‘s pilot will be helming Arrow, from a script by the team of Andrew Kreisberg, Greg Berlanti and Marc Guggenheim. Names that are familiar to most comic/TV fans.

There is no guarantee that Arrow will actually make it to air. Remember the CW’s attempt at Aquaman? That fish was dead out of the water before it even got a chance to air. Not to mention last year’s train wreck that was the Wonder Woman pilot. I’m really surprised that the CW didn’t spin Green Arrow out of Smallville. They had the character established, which a large built in fanbase. A sweeps appearance by Tom Welling as Clark Kent/Superman would have killed in the ratings, not to mention the DC Universe was already well developed with a lot of characters they could bring back (Impulse, Cyborg, and Black Canary to name a few). Add to this the fact that Justin Hartley was perfectly cast as the emerald archer.

Are you looking forward to the idea of seeing Green Arrow back on TV? Who else do you hope they feature in the show? Also annoyed they aren’t just spinning the show off from Smallville? Leave a comment with your thoughts!