After one year without  Smallville on the air, The CW is once again returning to its superhero roots with a pilot order for Arrow. Based on DC Comics legend Green Arrow, the series will be headed up by Greg Berlanti and Marc Guggenheim, who wrote last year’s Green Lantern film starring Ryan Reynolds. Take that how you will.

Joining Berlanti and Guggenheim as an executive producer and writer on the tentatively titled Green Arrow series (perhaps to take the sting out of being associated with one of last year’s most disappointing films) will be Andrew Kreisberg, who has worked on Boston Legal, Fringe and Warehouse 13, and penned several Green Arrow and Batman comic books. Kreisberg, Berlanti and Guggenheim previously worked together on ABC’s short-lived Eli Stone in 2008.

Smallville fans will most likely be familiar with Green Arrow from Justin Hartley’s portrayal of the character from 2006-2011 on the series. Initially brought into the series to fill the void left by not being allowed to include Batman in the series, Green Arrow quickly became a Smallville fan-favorite character - and arguably had the best superhero costume network television has ever seen.

As the Smallville series finale grew closer, fans were wondering whether or not The CW would spin-off Green Arrow into a series of its own. Despite Justin Hartley being interested in pursuing a Green Arrow series, nothing ever came of it.

Green Arrow Smallville

And now here’s the bad news: The Green Arrow pilot that The CW ordered from Kreisberg, Berlanti and Guggenheim has no connection to Smallville. In fact, everyone’s favorite Green Arrow actor, Justin Hartley, is not even attached to this series. That doesn’t necessarily mean he couldn’t be - though it’s highly unlikely.

While almost everyone will agree that a Justin Hartley Green Arrow series would have a lot of potential on The CW, casting Hartley in the role could potentially limit their ability to present the type of series they envision. If Hartley was attached to the series, there would be enough backstory, relationships, and character traits previously defined by Smallville that the producers would constantly be battling against that show.

Plus, there’s a reason why a Smallville spin-off didn't occur; maybe The CW simply didn't want it, or maybe it was the lawsuit with Smallville creators Alfred Gough and Miles Millar - or maybe the desire (or need) to separate from 10 years of television mythology... Whatever the reason may be, that Smallville spin-off didn't happen.

Green Arrow Smallville - Justin Hartley

So maybe this isn’t the Green Arrow series fans have wanted – and maybe the writers of (gulp) Green Lantern probably aren’t who you would like to see behind it - but hey, at least the show already has some type of comic book credibility via Andrew Kreisberg. And if you really think about it, Berlanti and Guggenheim did the same thing with Green Lantern that many (many) Smallville writers had done previously: they got it all wrong – the only difference is, Berlanti and Guggenheim did it on a bigger scale.

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Screen Rant will make sure to you updated on Arrow as more news becomes available.

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Source: The Hollywood Reporter