Green Arrow’s True Legacy Confirmed in DC’s Future

The Green Arrow might not be top of everyone’s list of “most inspiring” or “most popular” superheroes. Even within the DC Comics universe, Oliver Queen is often viewed as an accessory, part of a larger team (such as the Justice League), or even an equal member of a partnership (as his ongoing relationship with Black Canary.). “An inspiration” is not one of the best descriptors for the Emerald Archer, as he is the character most expected to push the boundaries of superheroics; but within the pages of Legion of Super-Heroes #5, it seems the legacy (and lineage) of Oliver Queen extend out to at least a millennium.

Legion of Super-Heroes has expanded the DC mythos out over a thousand years. The Earth has been destroyed, and subsequently rebuilt as New Earth; there is a planet devoted entirely to Gotham City, and a mystery quest to find Aquaman’s trident, which had become lost to time. A confrontation between the Legion and members of the Science Police escalates, threatening violence, as the Science Police are under orders to arrest the Legion. Before anything can go further between the two groups, though, Brainiac 5 appears in a hologram, and talks some sense into both sides.

Reasoning that since both the Legion and Science Police are  both on the same side, and hoping to achieve mutual goals, Brainiac says that both sides should cooperate to uncover what led them so close to trading blows, and to work “…together. Because, to quote Sir Oliver Queen the Eleventh, if not us, who?” The use of these words, and that name, work to calm both parties enough for the Legion to regroup. The legacy of the Queen family name has a lasting effect even far into the future.

To date, Oliver Queen has no children, and his relationship with Dinah Lance is rife with breakups and reconciliation. However, trusting in the Legion of Super-Heroes, it goes to show that not only does Oliver indeed become a father, but it is a family line that continues for centuries, and continues to hold high esteem and weight even in the future. Since Superman and Lois Lane have since successfully transitioned into parenthood, and it appears that Batman and Catwoman are readying to do the same, superhero parents are coming into vogue in the DC universe.

The idea of a future lineage of Oliver Queen’s that extends for centuries is not far from reason, nor without precedent. Arrow, on the CW, introduced viewers to Queen’s children, William and Mia, who grew into their characters, and whose legacies the later seasons explored. Officially introducing Mia and William into the comics canon would garner some interest in the gestating Arrow spin-off series on the CW, which itself looks into the near future of the character and the entire Arrowverse. Either way, knowing that he is poised to become an even more well-renowned hero…even if it IS in the far future…will surely leave readers and fans eager to start keeping up with the comic book tales of the Green Arrow.