An Honest Take on Arrow and the DC Cinematic Universe

There has been a lot of discussion lately about whether or not The CW's Arrow deserves to be included in a (potential) DC Cinematic Universe. I say potential because it seems like the people on the DC side of the comic street have absolutely no idea what they want to do with their franchises and characters, other than the fact that they want to do "something," whatever that may be. Creating a Justice League movie seems inevitable, which brings me to the meat and potatoes of this article: the Green Arrow character played by Stephen Amell is entirely deserving of a seat at the DC Cinematic Universe dinner table. Here's why:

-- From what I have gathered from all of the recent breaking news surrounding the characters that are going to be included in the Man of Steel sequel, it seems to me that Warner Brothers and DC are scrambling to put the pieces of a Justice League picture together. Batman and Superman are obviously in the sequel, but now, Wonder Woman and The Flash are going to be included, too, though in what capacity is yet to be seen. I think DC and WB would do themselves a world of good if they included a character that has already been established. In whatever future movie Green Arrow is included, they could provide 30 seconds worth of a backstory to clue-in viewers unfamiliar with Arrow's version of the character and not have to provide any other sort of time wasting origin story plot point. This would save so much time for other details of that future movie, especially since Zack Snyder is seemingly unable to create a movie that doesn't test the mettle of your bladder.

-- Arrow is a very well written and well acted show. I will admit that I was not an avid viewer during its original first season run. Actually, I didn't really care to watch it because it was on The CW and I figured since that was the case, it was sure to be ruined by some kind of teenage vampire drama session at some point. Also, I turned my nose up at The CW and thought I was "too good" for their programming. Boy, was I wrong. I finally binge watched it during the summer and I was so impressed. The casting decisions are solid and the actors are not campy or overindulgent. The show is just aces all around and I was such a moron for not giving it a chance in the first place because I was being a jerky snob. This show is legit and the ratings prove it.

-- DC has made their characters "gritter" than Marvel. Oliver Queen is a haunted man on Arrow and the writers and Amell have done a great job at making his morality a focus throughout the run of the show. They also are no strangers to increasing the body count on the show. That being said, the direction The CW has chosen to take with its Arrow character would fit in very nicely with the tone of the DCCU.

-- The fans seem to want it. I have read and heard the opinions of DC fans from both sides of this discussion and it seems to me that the majority of fans are in favor of this happening. Now, as we all know, movie studios are by no means obligated to incorporate fan opinions into the crafting of a story, a fact which we all are more than aware of (Ben Affleck...). However, I think including Stephen Amell's Green Arrow character in the DCCU would be a nice gesture to fans that have had to wade through the steady stream of non-Christopher Nolan DC comic book movies for the last 25 years. At the very least, it could be a "make up call" for casting Ben Affleck (I think Affleck will make Batman work, but there were many other better choices available, in my opinion).

This is how I view the Arrow/DCCU debate. This is also my first post on Comic Book Movie, though I have been an avid reader for years. I hope I can do all of you justice by contributing quality pieces of work. What do you think? Do I have a clue at all or should I be run out on a wooden pole O Brother, Where Art Thou? style? Let me know what you think.