Last week a surprise convergence of geek fandom collided, when it was announced that Arrow’s Stephen Amell had agreed to play crime-fighter Casey Jones in the sequel to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Over the past three seasons, Amell has grown into his starring role on Arrow, both on screen and off, with the assistance of a vocal and supportive fanbase. Filming on the third season wraps up within two weeks and the actor will then shift his attention to his first major feature film role.
Amell will be taking on another iconic vigilante persona, when he downs the hockey mask as Casey Jones in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2, which will mark his highest profile feature role so far. Both Jones and Arrow’s Oliver Queen originated on the comic book page and possess unique fighting styles and personal codes for handling crime. Recently at the Fan Expo in Vancouver Amell was asked about the two roles.
“Obviously the similarities are right there on the surface, but if the audition process and the script is any indication [Casey Jones] is going to be fundamentally different [from The Arrow]. As a matter of fact, it’s almost like the character of Casey Jones in this iteration of Ninja Turtles is almost a little bit more like the Oliver Queen that people know from the older comic books.”
One of the defining characteristics of Amell’s portrayal of Queen, is his quiet, reserved, and calculating demeanor. It is probable that we will be getting a Jones who is more impulsive and brash than we have grown accustomed to seeing from Amell. The actor’s overall demeanor and excitement for the project is undoubtedly infectious. He explains that he decided to take the role based on the overall excitement of his wife and director Dave Green’s passion for the property. If Amell is to be trusted, TMNT fans may be in for a treat.
Arrow and the Spin-off
The success of CW network’s Arrow has spawned a new era of television. We first met Grant Gustin’s Barry Allen on the second season of the show. This season Brandon Routh’s Atom was introduced as well and he will be guest starring on The Flash next week, before headlining the Arrow/Flash spin-off. During the same Q&A, Amell was asked by someone in an Elmo costume whether we could expect to see Oliver Queen appear on the new show.
“I would imagine that I would be appearing on all three shows. I would imagine that we will be sprinkling characters in… I know that there is a plan for one character, who originated on Arrow and is not one of the main characters on the new spin-off, to hover between all three shows – and that will be their job, so to speak. You’ll see a lot of interconnectivity next year.”
Clearly with supporting characters from both Arrow and The Flash headlining the new spin-off, we can expect to see the A-list heroes pop up from time-to-time in order to boost ratings. However, Amell’s mention of an established character who will “hover between all three shows” is noteworthy.
The Atom would be the most likely candidate, but he has already been confirmed as one of, if not the main character of the ensemble show. Emily Bett Rickard’s Felicity Smoak is the more likely candidate for the role. She is both a romantic interest for the Atom and has the technical aptitude to hang with The Flash’s scientific minds at S.T.A.R. Labs. She is the most logical choice and fits Amell’s description of the role. However, it will be easier to pin down the specifics once the rest of the main cast is announced for the untitled show.
Check out the Q&A session!
What do you think of Amell’s enthusiasm for Casey Jones? Which character do you think will float between the three shows? Let us know on the comment boards, , , and !
Source: CBM
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