If I have
learnt anything, it’s that anything is possible. Such as, rebranding an old
name and crafting it into a new. Taking something that worked, and reworking it
in such a way, that although you know what it is you’re watching, you’re liking
the new setting, the new location, the new cast but you’ve still got that one
big niggling question, why, of all the other DC characters, why was it
necessary to reskin Batman?
I guess
it’s because for a newer generation that didn’t grow up with the caped
crusader, that Arrow is a lot more believable in the fact that the setting
looks like any other city. It’s not all dark and sinister like Gotham , with characters that you know you’d never meet in
a month of Sunday’s.
But yet,
there are characters that you have heard
of before, such as Deadshot, and although the doctor in the mental hospital
(not Bedlam) didn’t carry a scarecrow mask with him in a briefcase, or was
physically seen pushing the Vertigo drugs that were polluting the city, you
knew from the moment Oliver awoke strapped in the chair, that you’d seen this
particular scene with the chemistry set somewhere before. And as for The Count,
there did appear something of a Joker in his behaviour, but that would be
pushing it, wouldn’t it?
And
trawling through the endless reams of documentation regarding Arrow you
discover a lot of similarities between Batman AND The Green Arrow DC character
that begun its life back in 1941.
Only The
Green Arrow and the series Arrow couldn’t be more different. Although there are
some similarities, the age, the
description and the family background has been completely shredded and tossed
into the air, and scattered for all time.
Laurel
Lance in the series is Dinah Lance in the comic.
Malcolm Merlyn
in the series is Tommy Merlyn in the comic.
Oliver
Queen lost his father during the sinking of the Queen’s Gambit in the series,
but both his parents were mauled to death by lions in the comic.
Speedy in
the series is referred to his sister Thea, but Speedy in the comic book is Roy
Harper.
It’s with
this level of research that had me screaming at the computer, drowning in the
amount of data on all three characters, Batman, Arrow and the Green Arrow. So
many similarities, I needed a dark room with a cold compress. I have so many
questions for the creator of the new series. Yet, I doubt I’ll find the
answers.
So what did I think to the
reskinning of my favourite caped crusader?
Arrow, for
the most part, is an enjoyable action packed series that has many edge of the
seat moments and breathtaking fight scenes. It has a delicious cast who gel
well together and who for the most part survive at least till the end of the
series. Yes, I knew Tommy wasn’t going to make it but it was still sad at the
end.
The one
thing I’ve come to realise with any great series, especially one that airs
ahead of us in the UK
And
stupidly for me, Wikia Arrow and DC comics have the full breakdown of the
entire series from start to finish. So even if I didn’t invest in the next 3
box sets, I already know what’s going to happen to the entire cast, which is
kind of sad really.
What’s
interesting though is the way the television Arrow story appears to work in a
kind of backwards approach to the Green Arrow story. There are also chunks of
detail removed from the television series, as to what happens in the Green
Arrow story, and yes, I get it that, the television series is based on the DC comic character, but
even with Batman, these were played as close if not precisely as they were in
the graphic novels. So why was there a need to change the details?
I can
understand if it was about the setting, about the locations of the story,
updating an old classic comic book hero to the present day can present some
issues, I can understand some levels would need to be changed. But a lot of
Ollie’s playboy behaviour happened much later AND Ollie (Green Arrow) was handy
with a bow and arrow before he went to the island, so why was there a need to
change that part of the story.
But Green
Arrow aside and Batman back in the picture, I found perhaps too much added into
the Arrow series, and not just characters but quotes and phrases and the way in
which Arrow portrays himself when he speaks to those he wants to interrogate or
help. That gruff voice reminds me so much of Christian Bale’s Batman!
The
similarities with Batman and Arrow become less of a surprise the further into
the first series you get, so I’m interested to see how many more I’ll find in
the next three seasons.
Let’s look at the Batman and Arrow
similarities.
Oliver Queen is a playboy and the son of a
billionaire who was reported lost at sea. Although Oliver knew the truth about
his father’s death, he didn’t until the end of Series 1 know the full extent of
who was behind the Queen’s Gambit boat disaster.
Bruce Wayne saw his parents murdered in the
streets of Gotham but it wasn’t until he was
much older that he discovered the truth about his parent’s deaths and who were
behind their murder.
Oliver Queen spent 5 years trapped on an island
in the Pacific surviving on his wits and doing what he had to in order to
survive. He learnt combat training from Yao Fei and his daughter Shado, a female
soldier who had been held prisoner by Fyers and his band of mercenaries. Oliver
returned to Starling
City
Pretend Playboy,
philanthropist Bruce Wayne never
stopped searching for the truth about his parent’s death, and adopted the mask
and ID of the Batman in order to find those responsible. He trained himself to
fight, honing his skills in martial arts and using all manner of weapons to aid
him. After overcoming his fear of dark spaces and bats in general Wayne
The only
other person to know of the cave’s existence was his best friend and confident,
Alfred his manservant.
Oliver Queen converted the old family steel mill
into a work space in order to carry out his vigilante work, building a
nightclub above it as a decoy for what went on below stairs. After saving the
life of his bodyguard John Diggle after a run in with Deadshot, opened up about
his role as the hood. Diggle joined
the team as an equal.
During the
first series, Oliver tangled with many an unsavoury character, none more so
than Deadshot, who was responsible for killing Diggle’s brother. Diggle’s vengeance
alone at capturing this individual drove a wedge between him and Oliver.
Bruce Wayne found an ally in the Police force,
Commissioner Jim Gordon. Although it was hard to prove to the police that he
was doing them a favour by bringing those guilty to justice, it was often
Gordon seeking help from the Batman.
Oliver Queen’s ally is Quentin Lance, father to
Sara and Laurel Lance. He’s a police detective in the Glades and fights to
protect his daughter, hating Oliver for the death of his daughter Sara, and is
determined right through the series to bring the Hood to justice. But it’s only
at the end when Quentin realises that the man he’s been chasing all along is
the man he should have trusted from the start.
The doctor
who I previously mentioned at the mental hospital rang Scarecrow bells at me.
Back in
Batman Begins, a character that would play a large part in the DC world was
going to have a significant impact in the Arrow world, and although he’s not
been physically mentioned, the idea of sending two bombs into the centre of
‘the Glades’ in order to flatten it and restore the balance, sounds one hell of
a lot like the chemical bomb that Henri Ducard was transporting into Gotham
City in order to ‘restore the balance’.
Knowing
that the Hood and Batman wouldn’t stand for this, it’s a race against time to
stop the threat and save the day. But as with all bad guys, it’s never a case
of stopping one bomb is it? There are always two!!!
Although in
the Arrow story, it’s Malcolm Merlyn’s idea to flatten the Glades, the idea of
the Undertaking however, is not. And when it’s discovered who is behind this
plan, the last piece of the Batman puzzle is revealed.
Oh and if
you needed any help in working that out, just remember, everyone has an
alias.
Resources
Wikia Arrow
Wikia Green
Arrow
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