Green Arrow, one of the most famous DC Comics characters of all time, has had his fair share of media representation outside of the comic panels. Whether it comes to film or TV, Oliver Queen, as well as several other Green Arrow related characters, have popped up in roles that go are anywhere between supporting or leading roles. Arrow is the latest interpretation of the famous Emerald Archer and his mythology recently came to an end as the Arrowverse starting series concluded back in January. But throughout the show’s run as well as past iterations of the Green Arrow universe, several versions of the famous characters have come to life.
With that comes the most iconic aspect of Oliver and other characters: the archer costume. Whether it’s worn by a hero or villain, the suit has always been part of Star City’s guardian angel as well as other related characters. While many have had their number of redesigns, just like in the comics, there are many great designs to look at, both in live-action and animation. These are 10 of the best Green Arrow and archer costumes in TV and film, ranked.
Arrow (Season 1)
When The CW was getting ready to bring the Stephen Amell-led drama to life, one of the core things that everyone was waiting for was the costume reveal. As the pilot began production, the suit was unveiled, designed by Academy Award-winning designer Colleen Atwood. This wouldn’t be the last time Atwood worked on costumes for the Arrowverse.
This first incarnation helped tease the tone the series was going for. While it’s a mixture of some old school Green Arrow look and modern leather, it was a strong first suit that would only evolve over the course of the series.
Arsenal (Season 3)
Thanks to Arrow, the character of Roy Harper (Colton Haynes) got his live-action debut and it didn’t take long for him to get his own suit. While skipping the Speedy phase of the archer’s life, the series had him take on the Arsenal title. The suit, which came into play in season 3, was a bit more advanced from Amell’s first Arrow costume. Throughout the whole design, more details are included and fleshed out compared to Oliver’s first suit.
Speedy (Season 3)
While Roy would hang up his hood as Arsenal for a period, the costume ended up being passed on to someone just as worthy: Thea Queen (Willa Holland.) After several seasons of foreshadowing, Thea officially became Speedy following Roy’s exit in season 3.
Even though it’s based on his costume, a few minor changes can be noticed which helped make this Thea’s costume. Rather than literally wearing Roy’s Arsenal suit, the minor details allowed this to truly feel like Thea’s costume.
Dark Archer
Merlyn the Dark Archer is one of Oliver’s greatest enemies in the comics and John Barrowman lived up to that energy as Malcolm. While he was threatening and a force to be reckoned with, his Dark Archer costume is a mixed bag. Given that it’s the uniform that everyone in the League of Assassins wears, it didn’t necessarily feel like Malcolm’s own unique suit. However, to Barrowman’s credit, this costume only looked good on Malcolm as everyone else who wore this didn’t make it look or feel powerful like Malcolm did.
DC Showcase: Green Arrow
While the Emerald Archer has yet to make it to the big screen in live-action, Oliver has had his share of appearances in animated films. One of them was the DC Showcase short-film Green Arrow that starred Neal McDonough as the titular hero who, ironically enough would end up playing the villainous Damien Darhk in Arrow season 4.
The movie, which is available as a bonus feature on the Superman/Batman: Apocalypse DVD, had one of the better designs for Oliver in animation. While having a slight vibe of the old school design, it’s a solid modernized update.
Justice League: Unlimited
When it comes to the most iconic Green Arrows in animation, Justice League: Unlimited’s version is one of the more popular ones. Voiced by Kin Shriner, the design for this version of Ollie is probably the biggest usage of the old-school look. Given the character design’s big build, this costume fitted perfectly with this particular incarnation of the beloved archer.
Green Arrow (Arrow Season 4)
While most of the archer costumes Oliver wore on Arrow went with a darker green, season 4 made an exception. After having had a dark third season, the following season took things into a new direction, including his suit.
Unveiled in front of thousands of fans at San Diego Comic-Con that year, Oliver got a new suit that got closer in terms of comic accuracy. Not only did the green get brighter, but this was the first time the show dropped the sleeves. Even though season 5 and forward would bring them back, it was the suit upgrade that Oliver desperately needed.
Young Justice: Outsiders
Oliver appears in Young Justice where he initially was sporting a design that looked too much like a simple Robin Hood costume. While most designs for Green Arrow are influenced by Robin Hood, it never went as low as this animated series did. However, for Young Justice: Outsiders came with a surprising upgrade. Dropping the too-heavy Robin Hood vibe altogether, this new suit had some Arrow and DC Showcase: Green Arrow vibes.
Smallville
Even though Amell may have played Green Arrow the longest, Justin Hartley was the first actor to bring the character to life-action for roughly 4 seasons on Smallville. This design is the one to have played around with the design the most out of all the iterations that came before and after. With an incredibly bright green color to it, this leather-based outfit had fun with its usage of the west as well as the choice of having Oliver wear glasses rather than a domino mask. However, the glasses were cleverly used as a useful tech for Oliver when out in the field.
Green Arrow (Arrow Season 8)
While Oliver has had many great looks on both Arrow and in other properties, his final costume in season 8 takes the number one spot. With this being the last suit that Oliver would ever wear, the costume designers captured the “final season” tone with the latest design. From top to bottom, it pulls inspiration from most of the versions that Oliver wore throughout his time on the show. As he was heading into Crisis on Infinite Earths, this was the perfect look for his final adventure with the rest of the Arrowverse heroes.
