Potential spoilers for Arrow Season 6 episode 3, “Next of Kin.”
At Heroes & Villains Fan Fest in New Jersey in September, Stephen Amell said “Me doing the Arrow intro is possibly the biggest spoiler I could drop about the show. Sorry.” In case you are confused, Amell is often asked to recite the famous opening sequence at events and signings. The long speech has changed over the years, but it always ends with, “I am someone else. I am something else. I am Green Arrow.”
Amell declined to publicly recite the new season’s intro speech at last month’s con, prompting speculation it would reveal a spoiler about who survived (or didn’t) during the explosion on Lian Yu. But the Season 6 premiered with no changes to the speech. That might not be the case tonight.
If you’re caught up with last week’s episode,“Tribute,” you know Diggle is now Green Arrow. It seems highly likely David Ramsey may be the narrator for the intro sequence until his stint as the Emerald Archer is over. And if it’s not Ramsey’s voice, the script will likely still be different considering Oliver Queen has hung up the suit.
While this is all just speculation until the episode airs, the intro voiceover is the only way to make Diggle’s new alter ego official. The show is called Green Arrow and Dig is the Green Arrow. Well, for now at least.
Ramsey told Entertainment Weekly his new role will stay intact for “several episodes,” but don’t get it twisted. Stephen Amell is the Green Arrow.
“No. No, it’s Green Arrow. Stephen Amell is Green Arrow. It’s not going to last. Of course not, but I think it’s very interesting and it’s an interesting twist on how it fits into the ultimate theme of the season, I think it’s very clever. I think it’s an interesting detour. It also gives us some time with Oliver. I think it’s great, and he has some great writing. Stuff is happening between him and Deathstroke, and he and his son and he and Felicity. It’s awesome. I think holding it for the few episodes I have the mantle, that’s the appropriate amount of time,” Ramsey said.
According to Ramsey, Diggle’s physical limitations after the Lian Yu explosion will become “glaringly obvious” to the team, which causes him to lie and make excuses. This could cause some distrust among his teammates and also his wife, Lyla, who currently heads up ARGUS. She will not be very happy with Dig’s new gig.
“It’s something that Diggle honors and takes very, very seriously, so much in fact that the physical deficiency that he has, he’s going to great lengths to hide it from the team and fulfill the call that’s been placed on him by Oliver. So he takes it very, very seriously. He’s quite honored by it and he takes it with pride,” Ramsey said. “But even as we roll through this, because he wears this mantle for several episodes, he becomes the leader he was at the beginning of Season 4. He becomes a very sound leader.”
Are you excited to see Dig’s version of Green Arrow in action? Let us know in the comments. Arrow airs Thursdays at 9 p.m. on The CW.
