There's One DC Hero That James Gunn Needs To Completely Reboot
James Gunn has been a busy man ever since he and Peter Safran took over DC Studios (via Variety). The filmmaker-turned-studio head is hatching all sorts of plans that may very well make everyone dancing on the DCEU's grave look really dumb once he's done. However, before we get there, he and Safran have a huge mountain to climb, and until they're good and ready to plant their flag at the summit, it's hard to imagine that fans will get too much confirmed information about the film universe's future –- no matter how much they pester Gunn on Twitter.
That being said, there are already some nuggets of information out there. Gunn's recent promise that there are big things in Superman's future means that the Big Blue Boy Scout will certainly feature heavily in the DCEU. He has also confirmed that another character with the same color scheme, Blue Beetle (Xolo Maridueña), will have his planned movie (via James Gunn's Twitter).
Beyond that, many things are still pure speculation. Even so, if you look at Gunn's past as a filmmaker and a comic book fan, there's one particular superhero who would not only work very well in the DCEU, but whose inclusion in the Gunn-ified version of the universe is outright essential. Said character is Green Arrow, who's already on Gunn's radar, as he's confirmed on Twitter that the archer is one of his favorite heroes. "I dressed up as him as a kid all the time," Gunn wrote. "I made my own hats."
Here's why Gunn should dust off his collection of DIY Green Arrow hats, and bring the Emerald Archer in the DCEU as soon as possible ... but only after a pretty heavy reboot.
The Arrowverse made Green Arrow famous, but skewed his image
Oliver "Green Arrow" Queen is hardly an unknown live-action commodity, as Stephen Amell portrayed the character in "Arrow" from 2012 to 2020. This is great, because "Arrow" proved Green Arrow's potential as a live-action main character, and the show's success even paved the way for The CW's sprawling Arrowverse. As such, Oliver is well-known even among people who aren't familiar with the comics.
Which brings us to the bad news. The Oliver Queen of "Arrow" is a far cry from the Emerald Archer of the source material. The comics Green Arrow can and will be deathly serious when he needs to, and isn't above black ops tactics to reach the goal line. However, he also appreciates the wise-cracking, swashbuckling side of the costumed adventurer game when he can. He tends to resemble Robin Hood, sports a magnificently over-groomed goatee and a domino mask, and gleefully copes with his personal lack of superpowers with an array of specialty arrows and sheer skill. Think Marvel's Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner in the MCU), but with a far more bombastic personality.
Green Arrow also comes with a whole bunch of baggage. Though he's definitely a good guy, he can be smug, abrasive, and outright inept at times. He also has a tencency to clash with traditional heroes for a multitude of reasons, which include (but are by no means limited to) his anti-authoritarian and liberal views, and his disinterest of being a by-the-book hero. This is the version James Gunn should adapt.
Sure, Amell's version eventually acquires the mask and the beard, but he remains a fairly serious and straightforward, Dark Knight-style hero throughout the series. Since his is the reigning live-action depiction of the character, introducing a more complex, comics-accurate version of Green Arrow in the DCEU might pose a challenge. But hey, if someone can pull it off, it's probably the guy who can turn a talking tree and a grumpy space raccoon into big box office bucks.
The DCEU Green Arrow shouldn't be the wealthy version of the character
When we talk about the comics version of Green Arrow, it's worth noting that there are two major takes of Oliver Queen, and they're quite different from each other. He has been depicted as your average "rich guy who fights crime" character or a variation thereof, but his arguably most famous interpretation is a street-level, low-budget hero who pays careful attention to social issues, and who fights injustice on a "help the poor" scale that more powerful heroes wouldn't necessarily understand, let alone know how to tackle. Oliver has even been known to dabble in politics, and becomes the Mayor of Star City at one point.
Since there's no way Batman won't return to occupy the premier rich crimefighter role in the DCEU before long, the penniless incarnation of Green Arrow would be the way to go, here. The approach would allow the DCEU to tell small, intense, personal stories that interact with the large-scale stuff, much like Gunn has already done in "Peacemaker." Using this "social justice" incarnation of Oliver instead of the millionaire version would also open an interesting way to bring Green Lantern in the DCEU, as the street-level Green Arrow is famously friends and partners with the Hal Jordan version of the character in the comics. Regardless of which Green Lantern is set to become the main DCEU one, such a partnership would be fascinating to see in live action, as well.
Green Arrow fits Gunn's filmmaking strengths perfectly
The need for a comics-accurate DCEU Green Arrow instead of an Arrowverse-inspired one is clear, if only because the last thing DC needs right now is another dour, crime-fighting crusader. Depending on how you count, there's already up to three live-action versions of Batman running around, from Ben Affleck and Michael Keaton's versions in the upcoming DCEU movie "The Flash" to the Robert Pattinson version of Matt Reeves' "The Batman" universe.
What the DCEU does need is a comedic and fallible, yet complex everyman character who can both keep up with the superhuman figures, and call them out when needs must. Such a character is a staple in James Gunn's superhero works, to the point that he's constructed entire projects around (anti)heroes like this. In the Marvel Cinematic Universe, he has Star-Lord (Chris Pratt). Peter Quill might occasionally sport Celestial powers, but his central narrative role is a semi-charming rogue who's not without his flaws, but whose huge heart is more than enough to compensate. In his DCEU projects, Gunn has a similar figure in Peacemaker (John Cena), a traumatized and dangerous goofball who'd love to be a hero, but who doesn't quite understand how to be one ... at least, until he saves the day before the "real" heroes even arrive on the scene.
Green Arrow would be the ideal way to bring this flawed everyman archetype in the kind of DCEU tentpole movie role that Peacemaker is unlikely to assume. Apart from being a great and interesting character in his own right, Oliver's complicated nature means that he can act as a foil to virtually every DC character out there, regardless of their alignment. When Gunn inevitably puts together his version of the Justice League, Green Arrow can also act as the viewpoint character the DCEU iteration of the team has sorely missed.
It's a character trope Gunn has used before, and one that he knows how to deploy with maximum efficiency. Since he's already fond of Green Arrow, and the character fits his wheelhouse to a tee, the new DC Studios co-head should absolutely look into bringing his version of the archer in the DCEU.