Arrow: The CW show will end with a curtailed season 8 this fall

The show that spawned The CW’s Arrowverse will come to an end later this year. Arrow is set to air 10 episodes in its season 8 swan song.

The series that launched DCTV’s purple patch has run its course. The CW’s Arrow, which is currently airing its seventh season, will end after a condensed season 8, it has been announced. The show was part of The CW’s renewal roster for the fall, and now it is scheduled to run for a final 10 episodes this fall. In a heartfelt note to fans, the show’s producers have said:

"“This was a difficult decision to come to, but like every hard decision we’ve made for the past seven years, it was with the best interests of Arrow in mind,” Arrow executive producers Greg Berlanti, Marc Guggenheim and Beth Schwartz said in a joint statement. “We’re heartened by the fact that Arrow has birthed an entire universe of shows that will continue on for many years to come. We’re excited about crafting a conclusion that honors the show, its characters and its legacy and are grateful to all the writers, producers, actors, and — more importantly — the incredible crew that has sustained us and the show for over seven years.”"

This is a veritable end of an era since Arrow single-handedly changed the landscape for superhero television shows when it aired in 2012. At the time, it was a lone-gun, seemingly filling the space for the fandom left by Smallville. Since then, it has spawned an entire universe of spin-offs, including The Flash, Supergirl, DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, the upcoming Batwoman, and the non-Arrowverse DC show, Black Lightning. The show also breathed new life into John Constantine, a character whose show was canceled but who re-appeared as an acquaintance of Oliver Queen’s on Arrow.

Without a doubt, the success of Arrow and the Arrowverse is also a major reason for DC Universe’s launch of its own brand of DC Comics-inspired shows, including the recently concluded Titans and the ongoing Doom Patrol.

Starring Stephen Amell as the titular vigilante, Arrow has expanded its cast to include several heroes under the umbrella of Team Arrow. Many speculated that the Arrowverse was in for a shake-up after ‘Crisis on Infinite Earths’ was announced as the next crossover event. It makes sense that Amell’s Oliver Queen might be the fallen hero in the crossover as he was seen making a secret pact with the Monitor to save the lives of his friends.

While Arrow has had a steady following, the numbers have been declining over the years. It could be the darker tone of the show, as compared to the rest of the Arrowverse, or the changes from the source material. Most recently, some fans were up in arms about the drastic change made to Mia Dearden’s comic book storyline on the show as the character has been retconned into being the daughter of Oliver Queen and Felicity Smoak, and renamed Mia Smoak.

Given how many new characters have been introduced in the latest season of Arrow, there was a possibility of the show continuing with Emiko Queen as the new Green Arrow, who recently appeared in the seventh season, but the showrunners have decided to end the series with Oliver being the one true wearer of the green hood.

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