This Abandoned Green Arrow Movie Script Is Perfect For James Gunn's Reboot
Green Arrow seems all but destined to show up at some point in James Gunn and Peter Safran's DC Universe. The character's storied comic book history and lack of appearances in live-action beyond The CW's "Arrow" television series make him the perfect hero to bring to the big screen, and if Gunn wants to give Oliver Queen his own solo film, an existing script featuring the hero fighting his way through a prison provides the DCU's architect with the perfect way to re-introduce the Emerald Archer to the world.
In the mid-2000s, David S. Goyer ("Batman: The Dark Knight") and Justin Marks ("Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li") worked on a script called "Green Arrow: Escape from Super Max." In a conversation with WizardUniverse.com back in 2007 (per IGN), Goyer revealed the plot of the movie would have seen Green Arrow end up in a prison designed to hold superpowered criminals after being framed for the murder of an important government official.
The project, which never made it into production, focused on the non-powered Justice League member battling his way out of the prison: "He's Green Arrow for the first ten minutes of the movie, and then he's arrested and his secret identity is revealed," Goyer explained of the proposed film's plot. "They shave his goatee and they take his costume and send him to prison for life, and he has to escape. It's like 'Alcatraz,' and he has to team up with, in some cases, some of the very same villains he is responsible for incarcerating in order to get out and clear his name."
Green Arrow: Escape from Super Max would feature many villains
Throughout the "Green Arrow: Escape from Super Max" film, Oliver Queen would be taking on a number of villains who were actively trying to kill him. While David S. Goyer didn't list any specific villains the hero would face off against, he did say that it would have faces comic book fans were familiar with, but with a twist: they were all costumeless.
"Of course, tons of people try to kill him while he's in there," Goyer told WizardUniverse.com. "We've populated the prison with all sorts of B and C villains from the DC Universe. For the fans, there will be all sorts of characters the hardcore comic book junkies will know, but they're all going to be there under their human names and no one is wearing a costume, but there will be a lot of characters with powers and things like that."
Green Arrow's rogues gallery features some impressive and dangerous villains, some of whom were set to appear in the film. Though Goyer remained coy, the script was eventually released online, revealing that Meryln, Icicle, Pied Piper, Gemini, Blockbuster, Tattooed Man, and even Amanda Waller were part of the story. Additionally, big DC villain Easter eggs include mentions of The Riddler and Lex Luthor. Goyer eventually admitted to some of the names, including a reference to "Batman: The Dark Knight," with a prison cell featuring the name of Heath Ledger's Joker. Despite "Green Arrow: Escape from Super Max" never actually hitting the big screen, some fans believe a version of the story was eventually told – in the Arrowverse.
Was Green Arrow: Escape from Super Max adapted in the Arrowverse?
Season 7 of The CW's "Arrow" has a somewhat similar plot to David S. Goyer and Justin Mark's script for "Green Arrow: Escape from Super Max." The first few episodes see Oliver Queen (Stephen Amell) placed in a high-security prison following the revelation to the world that he was the Green Arrow and getting a life sentence for his murderous past. Coincidentally, the arc shows Queen trying to survive in prison while going up against his fellow inmate villains, including Talia al Ghul (Lexa Doig) and Brick (Vinnie Jones).
Despite the similarities between this storyline and "Green Arrow: Escape from Super Max," when Digital Spy asked showrunner Beth Schwartz whether Goyer and Mark's script inspired the storyline, she said, "No, not really. We're doing our own thing for [Oliver's] prison story." It may not be a firm denial, but the "Arrowverse" did do its own thing with the storyline, as the list of Queen's rogues inside wasn't nearly as expansive or filled with Easter eggs as "Escape From Super Max" likely would have had.
If James Gunn has plans for the Justice Leaguer, adapting the prison-based film script would be a nice change of pace for the character, though it likely would need to be adjusted to make for a successful first Green Arrow-starring film, as having the character in his superhero persona for only ten minutes in his first solo outing might not work for the audience. But if Gunn and Peter Safran do want to bring Oliver Queen to the big screen, finally turning "Green Arrow: Escape from Super Max" from a high concept script into movie reality more than 15 years after it first captured comic fans' attention would be a bold way to reintroduce the hero to audiences as they continue to shape their new DC Universe.