Before The CW’s widely popular DC Universe consisted of four shows including ‘The Flash’, ‘Legends of Tomorrow’, and ‘Supergirl’, it all started with ‘Arrow’. Greg Berlanti, Marc Guggenheim, and Andrew Kreisberg brought the Emerald Archer to our television screens and he spawned a whole universe of heroes and villains that have fans tuning in every week. Now that Oliver Queen has found success with a TV audience, it seems like other networks around the world are looking to follow his example and hopefully yield the same results. Well, the vigilante of Star City has taken notice and has set his sights on the imitators.
Okay, maybe it’s not actually THAT serious. Earlier this week, the Philippines’ GMA Network released a new teaser trailer for their upcoming series ‘Alyas Robin Hood’. The show that boasts “May bagong alyas ang katarungan” (which means “Justice has a new name”) bears a striking resemblance to ‘Arrow’, right down to the color green being prominently included in the overall color palette of the preview. Stephen Amell took notice of this and shared a bit of commentary on the matter on his Facebook by taking a “less is more” approach with his words:
Though it may look like it’s taking a page from DC & The CW’s book, GMA head writer Suzette Severo Doctolero clarified on her Facebook page that ‘Alyas Robin Hood’ is actually a modern Filipino take on the classic ‘Robin Hood’ tale that tackles the subject of social injustice rather than a knockoff of ‘Arrow’. Considering that Robin Hood is an inspiration for both the Green Arrow and this vigilante played by Dingdong Dantes, it’s easy to draw the comparison, especially since their choice of upgraded bow and arrows look fairly similar.
But the fact is that foreign countries make their own versions of American shows and vice versa all the time. In fact, many acclaimed American shows such as ‘All In The Family’, ‘Sanford and Son’, ‘House of Cards’, ‘Veep’, and a number of game shows were based on shows from other countries. Amell was likely making the post in jest just to poke fun at the upcoming Filipino sci-fi series. If you’re a Filipino-American with parents that watch GMA or TFC non-stop (like this writer), you already know that it’s hard to resist teasing the frequently over-the-top, over-dramatic shows on a regular basis. The actor was just joining in on the fun. And if that’s something that you want to do as well, check out the teaser trailer below (even though so far it looks like the most interesting scripted show GMA has ever produced):
What do you think of ‘Alyas Robin Hood’? Do you think that it’s a ripoff of ‘Arrow’? Sound off in the comments.
Despite being a “professional writer”, Ben likes run-on sentences far too much. For more of his attempts at being funny and the occasional insightful thought, follow him on Twitter and Instagram.
