Smallville Secretly Set Up Green Arrow In Its First Episode

A Green Arrow Easter egg hidden in the Smallville series premiere served as a clever setup for Oliver Queen, who became a key character in the show’s later seasons. Played by Justin Hartley, the Green Arrow was Clark Kent’s closest superhero ally on Smallville and even set the stage for The CW’s Arrow after the series ended.

In Smallville season 6, Hartley’s Oliver Queen entered the fold as a billionaire playboy who used to bully Lex Luthor (Michael Rosenbaum) when they were children. As an adult, Oliver moonlights as the Green Arrow, a vigilante who fights crime and steals from the rich. Following a confrontation with Clark (Tom Welling) that caused them to learn each other’s real identities, the two became friends. During the season, Oliver romanced Lois (Erica Durance), encouraged Clark to expand his superhero activities outside Smallville, and formed the Justice League. Starting in season 8, Oliver developed a full-time presence on the show, which lasted until the end of the series.

Oliver Queen’s role on the show was actually set up from the very beginning. In the first few minutes of the pilot episode, scenes set in 1989 focused on what the main characters were doing when the meteor shower happened. Lionel Luthor (John Glover) could be seen sitting in a helicopter reading a newspaper that included the headline, “Queen Industries CEO Missing, Presumed Dead”. This was a direct reference to the comic book origin story of Green Arrow. In most versions of the story in DC Comics, a young Oliver inherited their company when his father and mother met a tragic fate. Oliver also became stranded on an island for several years, where he received his Green Arrow training.

Smallville’s Oliver Queen reference lined up perfectly with what the show ended up doing with the Emerald Archer’s backstory. It was discovered in season 7 that along with Lionel, the Teagues, and Dr. Virgil Swann, the Queens were members of a secret organization called Veritas, who knew about a prophecy that foretold Kal-El’s arrival on Earth. In the present, Dr. Swann’s daughter accused Lionel of playing a part in her father’s murder, and for engineering the deaths of the Queens so that he could keep Clark to himself. In Smallville season 8, Oliver himself learned the truth about Lionel’s role. He found out that Lionel sabotaged their plane. It was for this reason that Oliver decided to get revenge by killing Lex.

Of course, the writers likely didn’t know it would go this route at such an early stage, but it was certainly clever for the show to lay the groundwork for Green Arrow just in case they ever had the chance to use him. It ended up working out well, considering that the reveal about his parents’ death fell into place with the original newspaper headline. Plus, the Lionel connection made the inclusion of the Easter egg in the pilot even more interesting. In retrospect, the Lionel Luthor of the early seasons appears much more menacing because of it. No one imagined at the time that Lionel was actually reading about the fruits of his own evil scheme.

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