While Arrow is credited as one of, if not the most successful, shows in the history of The CW Network, it was almost not going to happen with Stephen Amell as the main protagonist. In an interview with Michael Rosenbaum on his podcast Inside of You, he revealed how he wasn’t going to take the role if his show Hung hadn’t been cancelled. He said:
If it just doesn’t get cancelled… I’m not… I’m just not available, I can’t go do it.
While he may have loved to continue his comedy series with former Marvel star Thomas Jane, who played the role of the titular protagonist in 2004’s Punisher, Season 4 of the series wasn’t in the cards. And as a blessing in disguise, Arrow proved to be a seed of a TV franchise waiting to germinate.
Stephen Amell’s Arrow Gave Rise to an Entire TV Franchise
Despite the show becoming more of a necessity for a simple paycheck for Stephen Amell, what it turned into was something that almost no one could’ve expected. Despite the 1st season being a demanding project, Arrow surpassed expectations to such an extent that it managed to save The CW Network from going under the bus (via The Showrunner Whisperer).
Thus, with the support of Warner Bros. TV behind them, the success of Amell’s show featuring him as The Green Arrow gave a chance for other characters from DC to enter the realm of entertainment. The next in line to be brought to TV was none other than The Flash series, which also gained the same popularity and performance numbers as its predecessor.
And before we knew it, shows like Supergirl, Superman and Lois, Batgirl, and DC’s Legends of Tomorrow were introduced to the network, which were interconnected by sharing a common universe. This led to several crossovers and entire crossover series being born from these shows, turning into a TV franchise.
Alas, after the creation of the DCU under James Gunn and Peter Safran, the entire TV franchise was scrapped, putting an end to more than a decade-long legacy that began with Amell.
Why Hung Season 4 With Thomas Jane & Stephen Amell Never Happened
Despite its cancellation after Season 3, HBO’s Hung was a cult-classic for many fans who wanted to get more of stars like Thomas Jane and Stephen Amell. There were talks of Season 4 in the past, but the declining viewership of the show, being the biggest reason, scrapped the plan (via TV Series Finale).
Even Jane himself revealed that despite his role of Ray Drecker in the series being one of his most popular, he didn’t watch the show (via THR). But for the production, they expected Season 4 to get the green light. In an interview with E! News (via Digital Spy), actress Rebecca Creskoff, who played Lenore in the series, revealed how the Season 3 finale was a cliffhanger. She said:
Big cliffhanger!. There was one version of the finale that was very tied up and they were like, ‘Oh no, no, unravel that!’ So that was good.
Another big reason for the cancellation of the show was the gradual shift in HBO’s priorities from projects of all kinds to big-budget productions and innovative projects, the best example being Game of Thrones.
And lastly, the show was quickly running out of ideas and avenues to explore, especially with the restrictions that the network had put on the creators about what could and couldn’t happen in the series. Thus, all of these combined made Season 4 an impossibility.
Here’s more information on Hung below.
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Arrow is available to stream on Netflix (US).
