What Happened To The Cast Of Arrow?

If there's a downside to the growing success of James Gunn's newly consolidated DC Comics multimedia empire, it's that we'll probably never get a show like "Arrow" ever again. The concept was hardly a shot in the dark for The CW, the same network which found unprecedented success by reimagining the story of Superman as a teen drama in the vein of "Dawson's Creek." In this case, they would take a much more obscure character — the billionaire vigilante archer Oliver Queen (aka The Green Arrow) — and rework his story with the melodrama of a soap opera, the mystery box plot of "Lost," and the grounded action and mythos of Christopher Nolan's "Batman Begins."

At its worst, "Arrow" was a consistently fun if repetitive action adventure series that launched one of the most successful shared universes in TV history; at its best, it was a smarter, sharper project than anything DC had produced outside a theater, bolstered by a dynamic cast who understood exactly the kind of show they were making. Suffice it to say, we miss Stephen Amell's hooded hero and the rest of Team Arrow, so we've put together a list (the fun kind, not the kind you use to enact a vigilante vendetta against your dead dad's weird friends — iykyk) of where they all ended up after the story of Star City came to an end.

Colin Donnell only spent one season as a main cast member before making one of the earliest, most unexpected, and heartbreaking exits of "Arrow." In season 1, the Broadway veteran played Tommy Merlyn, the lovable but privileged and occasionally arrogant heir to the Merlyn corporate empire. He was best friends with Oliver Queen prior to the latter's presumed death, after which he struck up a relationship with his late buddy's grieving ex-girlfriend. Though the series initially sold him as a soft red-herring antagonist, his sudden, heroic death during the Undertaking is still one of the best moments of the entire "Arrowverse" continuity.

Donnell made special guest appearances throughout the Arrowverse after his exit, most notably as the fascist, Earth-X variant of Prometheus during the "Crisis on Earth-X" crossover event and as the evil Dark Archer from Earth-2. Otherwise, after recurring on the Showtime drama "The Affair," Donnell has largely been busy with the One Chicago universe since 2015, having joined the core ensemble of "Chicago Med" as Dr. Connor Rhodes. He also starred on the short-lived Australian series "Irreverent" and played a supporting role in the Netflix Robert De Niro-led miniseries "Zero Day" in 2025.

Quickly after leaving "Arrow," Donnell also returned to Broadway, starring in lauded productions like the 2014 revival of "Violet" and the "The Shark is Broken," a stageplay about the making of "Jaws" (in which he played actor Roy Scheider). As of writing, he is preparing to lead a highly-anticipated revival of the musical "Ragtime."

Thanks to her time on "Star Trek," Susanna Thompson was a sci-fi "Queen" long before she began playing duplicitous matriarch Moira Queen on "Arrow." She was part of the main cast for the first two seasons of the series, up until Moira was murdered by a vengeful Deathstroke (Manu Bennett) in season 2, episode 20, "Seeing Red." After this point, she returned as a special guest several times in various alternate timelines, most notably in the series finale "Fadeout" which rewrites her season 2 fate.

In 2016, Thompson recurred on the NBC sci-fi drama "Timeless," playing the mother of Lucy Preston (Abigail Spencer), a time traveler using her knowledge of history to protect the future from terrorists. The show was canceled after two seasons. She played supporting roles in the 2018 film "The Public" and James Wan's 2021 sleeper-hit horror flick "Malignant," and most recently recurred on the Apple TV+ crime drama "Truth Be Told."

Manu Bennett's Slade Wilson is without question one of the best villains in the entire Arrowverse. Having been stranded on the island of Lian Yu with Oliver, the two were allies turned mortal enemies by tragedy and trauma. Ultimately, neither his enhanced physical attributes nor his alliances with the likes of Sebastian Blood were enough to rob the Green Arrow of his city. He continued to intermittently guest star following his initial defeat.

After reprising his role as Orc chief Azog the Defiler one last time in "The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies," Bennett moved beyond the two roles that had defined the previous several years of his acting career and joined the cast of "The Shannara Chronicles," a television adaptation of Terry Brooks' "The Sword of Shannara" fantasy series that starred future "Elvis" and "Dune" star Austin Butler. It aired on MTV and, later, Spike, before being canceled in 2017. In 2024, he began hosting the ultimately short-lived CBS reality series "The Summit."

Since 2023, Bennett has starred on the New Zealand crime drama series "The Gone," which follows an Irish detective ("Grey's Anatomy" and "Shameless" alum Richard Flood) investigating a murder in New Zealand. As of writing, a second season is in production.

Throughout the 2000s, Katie Cassidy made something of a name for herself as a prolific yet oft-overlooked scream queen, starring in the unfortunately dull "A Nightmare on Elm Street" remake and the horrifically underrated "Harper's Island" slasher series on CBS. Even as she left the horror genre behind, however, the term scream queen could still apply in some fashion, given that her next big break was the role of Laurel Lance, the future Black Canary, on "Arrow." Cassidy was part of the series' main cast for the first four seasons until her character's death at the hands of Neal McDonough's Damien Darhk. She then returned as multiple alternate versions of Laurel, including an Earth-2 variant called Black Siren who was part of the series' ensemble for the last three seasons.

In between Arrowverse cameos, Cassidy appeared in a handful of independent dramas and low-budget genre films. Most recently, she's had prominent roles in "I Love Us," "Agent Game," and the Hallmark Christmas movie "A Royal Christmas Crush." As of writing, she has three films in production, including "Bunker" with Tyrese Gibson.

Best known for playing the dashing Captain Jack Harkness on "Doctor Who" (and its various spin-offs), John Barrowman got a unique opportunity to fully break bad when he was cast as Malcolm Merlyn on "Arrow." The League of Assassins zealot and millionaire rival to the Queen business empire was the primary antagonist of the series' 1st season, after which he recurred more frequently than most characters throughout both the remainder of "Arrow" and the wider Arrowverse. He even served as an antagonist on the spin-off series "Legends of Tomorrow," alongside Legion of Doom members Damien Darhk and Eobard Thawne / The Reverse Flash (Matt Letscher).

Between returns to the Arrowverse and to the "Doctor Who" franchise, Barrowman had seemingly little time to do much else through the 2010s and early 2020s. His last on-screen acting role was in a 2021 COVID-era short-film with "Arrow" co-star Stephen Amell. One of many Broadway vets in the Arrowverse ensemble, Barrowman has continued to perform on stages across the globe in concerts and theatrical productions.

Though Freddie Stroma has been playing Adrian Chase/Vigilante on James Gunn's HBO Max series "Peacemaker" since 2021, he wasn't the first actor to bring the D-list DC antihero to live action. That honor belongs to Josh Segarra, who played a distinctly "Arrow"-ified version of Adrian Chase in the CW series' 5th season. A cross between the comic character, Aaron Eckhart's Two-Face, and the series' own Dark Archer, he was an unevenly written but ultimately solid seasonal antagonist who reprised his role a few times after his initial exit.

That isn't to say that Segarra wasn't brought back because his character wasn't as memorable. On the contrary, the actor was probably too busy to even consider a return. After "Arrow," Segarra booked major supporting roles on "Orange is the New Black," "The Other Two," and "AJ and the Queen." In 2022, he made his Marvel Cinematic Universe debut in the Disney+ series "She-Hulk: Attorney at Law," playing prosecuting attorney Augustus "Pug" Pugliese. The following year, he joined the cast of the horror blockbuster "Scream 6" and reunited with Stephen Amell for multiple episodes of the Starz drama "Heels." Most recently, he's starred in the Apple TV+ series "The Big Door Prize," recurred on "Abbott Elementary" and the Netflix dramedy "Sirens," and played a supporting role in the Tim Robinson-Paul Rudd comedy "Friendship." As of writing, he's set to star in the upcoming Fox medical drama "Best Medicine."

As Detective Quentin Lance of the Starling City Police Department, Paul Blackthorne was one of the few elements of "Arrow" that subverted the "Batman"-inspired storytelling of this superhero drama. Where Commissioner Gordon was a family friend of the Waynes and one of the closest allies of the Dark Knight himself, Lance was immediately set on bringing the hooded Arrow to justice — as for Oliver Queen, there was no one he despised more, as he held the playboy responsible for the death of his daughter, Sara (Caity Lotz's character, who, of course, survived and went on to lead "Legends of Tomorrow"). His character was written off the series during season 6, when he was killed by Ricardo "Dragon" Diaz (Kirk Acevedo).

Blackthorne was cast as another TV detective right after leaving "Arrow," playing Detective Tom Hackett on the ghostly NBC crime thriller "The InBetween." The series was canceled after one season in 2019. Most recently, he guest starred on the series "The Company You Keep" and "Magnum P.I." in 2023.

After starring on "The O.C." and appearing in a number of modestly successful late-2000s and early-2010s films (such as the oft-forgotten 2010 Paul Bettany box office hit "Legion"), Willa Holland was cast in the inaugural season of "Arrow" as Thea Queen, Oliver's younger sister who adopted a troubling wild streak while he was away on the island. Once she pulls herself together — and discovers that her real father is actually Malcolm Merlyn — she trains in archery and martial arts and becomes the Team Arrow member Speedy.

The show struggled to figure out what to do with her in this capacity, however, forcing her into semi-retirement (because of some Lazarus pit nonsense) and later a coma before ultimately writing her off the series in season 6. Since then, Holland has appeared in an episode of Peacock's podcast crime comedy "Based on a True Story," starred in the Cineverse neo-western "The Dirty South," and continued to voice the character Aqua in the "Kingdom Hearts" series of video games. As of writing, she is slated to star in an adaptation of the viral horror video game "The Mortuary Assistant."

Before Thea joined Team Arrow, Oliver's scarlet sidekick was Roy Harper, an even angrier Arrow (pretty obviously inspired by Batman sidekick Jason Todd) played by Colton Haynes. Haynes recurred throughout the debut season before taking on a more central role for seasons 2 and 3, after which he was written off the series. He returned to guest star in almost every season thereafter, and even rejoined the main cast for season 7 before he and Thea rode off into the sunset to hunt Lazarus Pits or something.

Thanks to his roles on "Arrow" and "Teen Wolf" (the latter franchise he returned to for a movie in 2023), Haynes gained real traction in Hollywood, appearing in Dwayne Johnson's "San Andreas," Ryan Murphy's "Scream Queens" and "American Horror Story: Cult," and the music video for Lil Nas X and Jack Harlow's single "Industry Baby." He was set to star in an Ilana Glazer project titled "I Run Hot," which seemingly never materialized.

Echo Kellum joined the cast of "Arrow" in season 4, just as the Arrowverse franchise hit a popularity-boom, which — for "Arrow" specifically — seemingly led to the rapid introduction of more superheroes to fill out the supporting cast. He played Curtis Holt, a shy, technological genius who would become the superhero Mr. Terrific (it's a far cry from the version of the character seen in James Gunn's "Superman").

After departing the series ahead of its final season, Kellum lent his voice to numerous animated shows like "Rick and Morty," "Solar Opposites," "Krapopolis," "Star Trek: Lower Decks," and "Robot Chicken," as well as the movie "Ruby Gillman: Teenage Kraken" and the video game "High on Life." He also had supporting roles in the miniseries "The Fugitive," FX's "The Old Man," and the 2023 film "Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret."

Though Rick Gonzales didn't join "Arrow" as Rene Ramirez/Wild Dog until season 5, he was part of the same class of Team Arrow inductees as Kellum's Mr. Terrific, and was the result of the same leap in popularity brought on by the success of the even more superhero-y spin-off series "The Flash." He remained part of the core cast of "Arrow" until its series finale in 2020.

Over a decade before Gonzales would land the biggest role of his career at the time on "Arrow," he started out, many actors do, by guest-starring on a single episode of "Law and Order." In 2022, he joined the franchise as one of its leads, playing Detective Bobby Reyes on "Law and Order: Organized Crime." He also starred in the Peacock adaptation of the Dan Brown novel "The Lost Symbol" and lent his voice to the acclaimed animated film "Predator: Killer of Killers" in 2025.

The final major addition to Team Arrow in season 5 was Dinah Drake, a new version of Black Canary introduced after both Lance sisters were written off. Dinah was unique from her predecessors in that she was the first Canary to have the comic book-accurate super power of sonic screaming.

She remained a series regular through the series finale, and was even supposed to be one of the leads of a future-set successor spin-off series titled "Green Arrow and the Canaries," alongside Katie Cassidy as Laurel Lance and Katherine McNamara ("Walker: Independence") as Oliver Queen's vigilante daughter Mia. The series was canceled during the COVID-19 pandemic, and likely would've had a short shelf-life regardless thanks to James Gunn's DC reboot. Harkavy's post-Arrowverse career has been quiet. As of writing, her only roles since have been in 2021's "Who Is Christmas Eve?" and 2024's "Isla Monstro."

As one of the foundational cast members of "Arrow," Emily Bett Rickards' Felicity Smoak wasn't just an integral member of Team Arrow, but a defining figure of the Arrowverse at large. She becomes Oliver's most trusted ally and eventual wife throughout the first seven seasons of the show, though she was written off before the final season when the couple go into hiding to protect their newborn daughter, Mia. Though Oliver is eventually pulled back into the fray knowing that he won't return, Felicity remains in hiding throughout season 8, only attending Oliver's funeral in "Fadeout."

Rickards' exit freed her up to lead several low-budget films, including "Funny Story," "The Clinic," "Autumn and the Black Jaguar," and "Calamity Jane" (in which she reunited with Stephen Amell). Most recently, she starred in "Queen of the Ring," a biographic drama about professional wrestler Mildred Burke.

Like Felicity Smoak, David Ramsey's John Diggle was an original character created for "Arrow" who, by virtue of the show's popularity, became one of the most important figures in the largest DC Comics shared-universe project to ever exist (outside the comics themselves, of course) as of writing. While many fans had hoped he would one day be revealed as the Arrowverse's Green Lantern (the series finale even seemingly teased that he had turned down a Green Lantern ring, though no one has ever been able to confirm this), he was only ever the street-level superhero Spartan, officially.

Ramsey was with "Arrow" for all 8 seasons and was one of very few actors to make continued appearances in the waning Arrowverse after the finale. In fact, he's the only Arrowverse actor period to reprise his role on the Elseworlds series "Superman and Lois." Further, he too was developing a sequel spin-off series titled "Justice U," which would have starred Diggle as the architect of a new, younger Justice League. The series never materialized. Aside from his Arrowverse appearances, Ramsey guest starred on "The Rookie: Feds" and "The Hunting Party," recurred on the Peacock legacy drama "Bel-Air," and played a supporting role in the late Jason David Frank's "Power Rangers"-inspired feature "Legend of the White Dragon."

Finally, the Green Arrow himself, Stephen Amell, who played Oliver Queen across all eight seasons of Arrow. In a truly unwieldy hero's journey, viewers watched for nearly a decade as his murderous vigilante turned into an inspiring street-level superhero, then, ultimately, a multiverse-saving cosmic deity capable of rewriting reality according to his own desires.

Immediately after "Arrow" ended, Amell got to work making "Heels," a wrestling drama created for Starz by future Marvel Studios writer Michael Waldron ("Loki," "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness"). He starred as Jack Spade, an owner, writer, and performer in a regional professional wrestling league founded by his father, which he struggles to keep alive despite growing conflict with his brother Ace (Alexander Ludwig). Though it received positive reviews from critics and fans, "Heels" was canceled in 2023. Not long after that, he was tapped to lead NBC's highly-anticipated "Suits" spin-off series "Suits: LA." It failed to recapture the original series' audience, and was quickly canceled.