In The CW's crossover event Crisis on Infinite Earths, Oliver Queen, aka Green Arrow, died twice during the story, and it turns out there was an excellent reason for that. Oliver's second death, in particular, was one of the many surprises of the crossover event, which eventually brought all The CW superheroes together and merged their worlds into one.
There were other surprises in Crisis on Infinite Earths, including cameo appearances by pretty much anyone who has ever been part of a DC Comics television show. These cameos included Burt Ward, Kevin Conroy, Tom Wellington, Erica Durance and Tom Ellis. However, it was the cameo appearance of Ezra Miller, who portrayed The Flash in the Justice League film, that surprised fans the most. Ultimately, though, the event's focus was about the core heroes of The CW, most notably, Green Arrow (Stephen Amell). Arrow was the first DC show on The CW and served as the launch base for all other superhero shows on the network. And although most fans understood that Arrow, aka Oliver Queen, would probably die during Crisis, they never expected him to die twice.
Arrow first died early on in Crisis in an effort to save as many people from Earth-2 as possible. However, thanks to a little help from John Constantine (Matt Ryan), Oliver's friends found a Lazarus pit and tried to bring him back. When that didn't work out, they went to Purgatory to discover that Oliver needed to become Spectre. And as Spectre, Oliver died again to save the universe, using his new powers to create a new one. That second death was all part of keeping viewers on their toes, especially when they pretty much already knew Oliver's Crisis fate. In an interview with Variety, Arrowverse executive producer Marc Guggenheim said:
"I shared that plan with [executive producer] Greg Berlanti, who was into it. And then I pitched it to Stephen, and Stephen and I have been talking about, for years, that the end of the “Arrow” story is [Oliver’s] death. And we’ve always been on the same page. I think he enjoyed A) the opportunity to play two death scenes and B) the creative sleight of hand in terms of surprising the audience. That’s the other thing that Stephen and I have always agreed on: surprising the audience with the unexpected."
Although Crisis on Infinite Earths did seem to confirm the death of Oliver Queen (at least after the second time), it's still unknown as to whether Amell will ever return to the role as a resurrected version of the character or potentially in flashback scenes. Although Arrow is in its final season, that season still has two episodes left. With Oliver dead, those episodes will likely serve as a launching point for the new spin-off series, Green Arrow and the Canaries, which will see Oliver's daughter Mia Queen (Katherine McNamara) taking her father's place as Green Arrow.
Most fans would agree that Crisis on Infinite Earths did right by Oliver Queen, though, as the progenitor of the entire Arrowverse, he needed to be the hero that saved the day in this crossover event. Meanwhile, fans have more crossovers to look forward to, future events that will now include everyone in the Arrowverse, especially now that they all exist on the same Earth.
Source: Variety