Now that the lead role of the CW’s Green Arrow series called ‘Arrow’ has been found in the form of actor Stephen Amell, the producers and director are now setting their sights on filling the rest of the cast. Now we hear that David Ramsey has joined the pilot and will be playing the role of John Diggle.
Diggle is a character not found in the comic books and was created for the series although the surname is thought to be a nice nod to the comic book writer of ‘Green Arrow: Year One’ Andy Diggle. John Diggle is described as “a former military man now working as a bodyguard for hire who soon finds he is trapped in a battle of wits, loyalty and trust.”
You may recognize Ramsey as he is best known for his role as Anton Briggs in Showtime’s ‘Dexter’ and is currently playing Mayor Carter Poole in this season of the CBS show ‘Blue Bloods.’
We already know the series will be quite different than its comic book counterpart as Warner Bros. has been describing it as a modern retelling of the story. In the CW’s version, Green Arrow will be more grounded and less “comic book” hero. He will be portrayed as the “vigilante superhero who fights crime using archery, martial arts and technology under his secret identity as Oliver Queen, a wealthy playboy and billionaire industrialist-turned-outspoken politician in Star City.” In other words, according to CW head Thom Sherman, think along the lines of Jason Bourne from the ‘Bourne Identity’ movies.
“It’s a very provocative and sophisticated and edgy,” says Sherman about the pilot. “It’s not as comic book-y as Smallville or other [superhero projects] from other networks.” In other words, don’t expect this Green Arrow to rely on super powers or gadgets. “He doesn’t have any superpowers; he’s a very grounded character like a Jason Bourne,” continues Sherman, “His skill-set is that he’s an archer, but he’ll also have physical strength and prowess. He’s clever and able to devise ways of taking down a bad guy that are unique and fun to watch.”
With David Nutter confirmed to be directing the pilot (and will receive executive producer credit as well) , there’s buzz that the pilot has a good chance of getting picked up as a series. After all, Nutter has directed the pilots of many sci-fi successful CW shows such as ‘Supernatural’, ‘Smallville,’ and ‘Roswell.’ Normally announcements for series pick-ups occur in May so hopefully we should know more by then.
So that’s two down and 4 more spots to fill before filming begins on the ‘Arrow’ pilot. What do you think of the pilot so far?
