Arrow

Heroes fall. Legends rise.

RELEASED 10 Oct 2012119h 10m · 170 episodes★ 6.8 TMDB

Spoiled billionaire playboy Oliver Queen is missing and presumed dead when his yacht is lost at sea. He returns five years later a changed man, determined to clean up the city as a hooded vigilante armed with a bow.

WATCH NOTE

Green Arrow & The Canaries (2020) is season 8, episode 9 of Arrow, first broadcast January 21, 2020. Set in the revised Star City of 2040 after Crisis on Infinite Earths, it follows Mia Queen, Laurel Lance and Dinah Drake. Watch it in Arrow's episode sequence; it is already included in this series and should not be counted as a separate film or series. The episode served as a backdoor pilot for a proposed spinoff that The CW did not commission.

Why it matters in DC

Oliver Queen's return establishes the personal mission around which the Arrowverse's street-level starting point is built. His changed identity and campaign against corruption make the series a foundation for understanding the television setting before its range of heroes expands.

Watch these first

4 titles to watch before Arrow — 21h 37m in total.

Justice League: Crisis on Two EarthsOptional background1h 15m★ 7.3
A separate adaptation of Black Canary; useful for comparison, but unrelated to Arrow’s story continuity.
MADOptional background19h 4m★ 8.0
A separate adaptation of Black Canary; useful for comparison, but unrelated to Arrow’s story continuity.
DC Showcase: Green ArrowOptional background0h 11m★ 7.1
A separate adaptation of Green Arrow and Black Canary; useful for comparison, but unrelated to Arrow’s story continuity.
Robot Chicken DC Comics SpecialsOptional background1h 7m
A separate adaptation of Green Arrow; useful for comparison, but unrelated to Arrow’s story continuity.

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How these titles are selected

Story prerequisites are curated. Likely prerequisites are inferred from sequel numbering or explicit synopsis references. Recommendations are earlier stories in the same continuity; background picks are separate adaptations. Series lists cover whole shows, not an episode-by-episode watch order.

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Where it fits in the DC universe

Arrow is title 1 of 10 in our Arrowverse viewing sequence. Arrow is the starting television series for the Arrowverse collection and introduces Oliver Queen's ongoing story. Later shows connect through characters and crossover episodes, so a complete watch requires more detail than placing whole series one after another. The catalogue's grouping is an overview of that network, not an episode-by-episode crossover schedule.

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