Arrow follows billionaire playboy Oliver Queen (Stephen Amell), Robert and Moira Queen's oldest son, who claimed to have spent five years shipwrecked on Lian Yu, a mysterious island in the North China Sea, before returning home to Starling City (later renamed "Star City") to fight crime and corruption as a secret vigilante whose weapon of choice is a bow and arrow.

Starting with season seven, a series of flash-forwards focus on Oliver's children William (Ben Lewis) and Mia (Katherine McNamara), exploring how present events would affect their future and Green Arrow's legacy.

Although Oliver Queen / Green Arrow had been featured in the television series Smallville from 2006 to 2011, also on The CW, the producers decided to start clean and find a new actor to portray the character.

[1] The series follows billionaire playboy Oliver Queen, who spent five years shipwrecked on the mysterious island Lian Yu, before returning home to Starling City.

In season three, following Sara's murder and the loss of his family's company to Ray Palmer, Oliver refuses to believe he can lead a normal life whilst continuing as The Arrow.

The season's flashbacks see Oliver escape Lian Yu, only to be forced to work with Waller in Hong Kong, attempting to stop the release of a lethal pathogen.

In season four, Oliver and Felicity are living in Ivy Town, but return to the renamed Star City, to fight terrorist group H.I.V.E., led by Damien Darhk.

In season five, Oliver and Felicity recruit a new team of vigilantes to aid their mission, including former police detective Dinah Drake, as the new Black Canary.

In season six, Oliver attempts to balance his vigilantism alongside his role as mayor, whilst also being a father to William, following the death of the boy's mother.

Hartley however refused to entertain the idea, feeling it was his duty to respect what Smallville had accomplished in five seasons, and not "steal the spotlight" because there was "talk" of a spin-off after his two appearances.

[78] When developing the series, producer Marc Guggenheim expressed that the creative team wanted to "chart [their] own course, [their] own destiny", and avoid any direct connections to Smallville.

[18] The series' skyline shots use a combination of footage from Frankfurt, Germany, Center City, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Maryland, Back Bay, Boston, and Tokyo, Japan.

"[85] Ahead of the 100th episode, Guggenheim talked about the commitment to quality the series strives for, stating, "We never skimped on the writing, the production or in the post-process going, 'This is going to be one of those stinkers, we might as well cut our losses and move on.'

[110] Each season release contains additional features, which include: making-of featurettes, episode commentaries, deleted scenes, gag reels, Comic-Con panels, and highlights from the Paley Fest.

The site's consensus reads, "The CW nails the target with Arrow, a comic book-inspired series that benefits from cinematic action sequences, strong plotting, and intriguing characters.

"[113] Mary McNamara of the Los Angeles Times called the series an interesting setup with a quality look, describing Amell as "a poster boy (no doubt literally) for the Katniss Everdeen set.

"[118] Jeff Jensen of Entertainment Weekly gave the first half of season two a rating of B+, saying, "Arrow possesses an intelligence that shines through its TV-budget production values, which aren't too shabby.

The flashback sequences were characterized as sporadic and "superfluous", with Ra's al Ghul described as a "shallow" and "underutilized" villain "absent of clear antagonism",[122] although Matt Nable was generally praised for his portrayal of the character.

The site's consensus reads, "No stranger to dramatic twists and turns, season five of Arrow continues to introduce new villains and surprise viewers despite some inconsistency".

Particular praise was given to Amell and Rickards' performances, as well as new directions for the show via "more willingness to take risks and venture off the beaten path this year, even if it often bit off more than it could chew with its large ensemble cast.

The site's consensus reads, "Oliver Queen's final adventure hits emotional peaks while spearheading the game-changing 'Crisis on Infinite Earths', giving the Emerald Archer a rousing sendoff.

[202][204] A follow-up to the original digital title, Arrow: Season 2.5, is written by Guggenheim and Keto Shimizu, one of the show's executive story editors and writers, with art by Joe Bennett and Jack Jadson.

Shimizu added that the comic also allows the writers to "accomplish things on the page that are nearly impossible to do with our production schedule and our budget", including bigger action sequences, as well as visits to locations that cannot be recreated on the show.

The comic, initially set between seasons three and four of the show before flashing back, explores a younger Malcolm Merlyn and his past, with Corto Maltese and Nanda Parbat featured.

The miniseries features Emily Bett Rickards, Colton Haynes and Paul Blackthorne reprising their roles of Felicity Smoak, Roy Harper and Quentin Lance, respectively.

[221] On February 23, 2016, Titan Books released Arrow: Vengeance, a tie-in novelization written by Oscar Balderrama and Lauren Certo, which is set before and during the second season, detailing the origins of Slade Wilson, Sebastian Blood, and Isabel Rochev, and how they eventually meet and collaborate with each other to battle Oliver's alter-ego as seen in the television series.

[228] In July 2013, it was announced that Berlanti and Kreisberg, along with Nutter and Geoff Johns, would be creating a television series, The Flash, based on the character of the same name, with an origin story for Barry Allen.

[229] The character, played by actor Grant Gustin, was set to appear in three episodes of season two of Arrow, with the final one acting as a backdoor pilot for the new series.

[244] On filming the episode, Guggenheim stated it felt like the production team was "doing a Constantine/Arrow crossover, and it's so exciting ... we're just really glad we got the chance to extend Matt Ryan's run as Constantine by at least one more hour of television.

[248] The next month, The CW announced it was developing a female-led spin-off series, with Katherine McNamara, Katie Cassidy, and Juliana Harkavy as the leads, reprising their roles from Arrow.