ARROW Star Stephen Amell Explains Story Behind That Bruce Wayne Namedrop

The CW’s Arrowverse has made vague shoutouts to the world of Batman, but a recent episode of Arrow had the clearest reference yet. During a press conference, Oliver Queen denied being the Green Arrow, saying that the leaked photo was photoshopped. He adds, “They could’ve put Bruce Wayne’s head on that body,” before also mentioning Gotham City.

This confirms once and for all that Bruce Wayne is out there somewhere in the Arrowverse, even if we never see him. Now, we know the backstory behind the namedrop.

Star Stephen Amell spoke with journalists recently on set (via ComicBook), and he explained how they came up with the idea of referencing Bruce Wayne. “That was really funny; the original version of that script, which came out just before Comic-Con, was just Oliver referencing a famous name. I can’t even remember what the placeholder was; I think it might have been Justin Bieber. And I looked at it and thought to myself, ‘This is a cool opportunity.'” Amell pitched the idea to Greg Berlanti, who told him to ask Geoff Johns. While Amell couldn’t meet Johns, he did meet with Warner Bros. Pictures’ Kevin Tsujihara, DC’s Diane Nelson, and WB TV’s Peter Roth. There, he was given the OK to make the namedrop.

While Amell won’t say that Batman is definitely appearing on Arrow (which is highly unlikely), he has some ideas on how the character dynamics would play out. “I’ve always thought that Bruce Wayne would be an interesting ally on the show, and an even more interesting villain to Oliver. Which doesn’t mean that he’s the villain, it just means that they don’t like each other.”

For those who aren’t aware, WB/DC has been iffy about having Batman pop up on most of its shows. Fox owns the character’s TV rights, which is why Gotham is a thing. But The CW has not been given the OK to put him (or most of his supporting characters and rogues gallery) in any of its shows. There are some references here and there, but so far, they’re just that: references. It’d be awesome if they did lead to a full-blown Batman appearance, but personally, I’m not counting on it.

For Amell’s full comments, where he further describes his meeting with the “holy trinity,” click HERE.