This is a big year for archery in popular culture.  At the movies, we've already seen Katniss Everdeen in The Hunger Games and next month Pixar's Princess Merida will sling some arrows, while Marvel's resident marksman Hawkeye is currently killing aliens/wearing no sleeves in The Avengers.  The best man with a bow in the DC universe is getting his own live-action iteration this year too, as the Green Arrow leads the new television series Arrow.

Hey everybody, The CW has revealed an official first look at Arrow, featuring Stephen Amell in costume as DC Comics hero Green Arrow.  The dark image has Amell as a hooded Oliver Queen, highlighting the stripped-down costume.  That costume is designed by three-time Oscar winner Colleen Atwood, who is a favorite of both Tim Burton and Johnny Depp, with credits including Dark Shadows, The Rum Diary, Sleepy Hollow, The Tourist, and Big Fish, as well as Joe vs. the Volcano and The Silence of the Lambs.

Smallville enjoyed a decade-long run as the face of DC Comics on television, and since it ended last season, Warner Bros. and The CW have evidently been looking for another DC property to take its place on the idiot box.  Just over two weeks ago, we learned about Arrow, a potential pilot that would make use of Green Arrow, the bow and arrow wielding protector of fictitious Star City created by Mort Weisinger and George Papp in 1941.  Well, it's going to pilot, and it has found a leading man, as Stephen Amell has been cast as Oliver Queen.

A few weeks ago we learned that The CW was on the verge of ordering a pilot for a potential series based on Green Arrow, the DC Comics hero created by Mort Weisinger and George Papp way back in 1941.  Last week, according to The Hollywood Reporter, the network ordered the pilot to a series that would be entitled Arrow, along with pilots for a Sex and the City prequel, and a contemporary Beauty and the Beast.  Though the character, Oliver Queen, played a major recurring role on the long-lived but recently closed-out DC series Smallville, actor Justin Hartley will not be returning, and a newly-revealed casting breakdown gives a good idea of this new Arrow, along with his supporting characters.

Over the last ten years and change, superheroes of every stripe have come to dominate the blockbuster movie landscape, yet for the most part, the vast plains of television have yet to be successfully colonized by spandex-sporting neon gods.  There have been plenty of kid-oriented animated series, but not so many live-action series.  There are currently several in development, meaning that the idiot box might just finally get its share of superheroics.  One potential show that might just become a reality is an in-development Green Arrow series based on the DC Comics character.

While Marvel heroes have been making their way to theaters on the regular for a decade, the superheroes of DC Comics have gotten to the screen with less regularity.  Warner Bros has The Dark Knight Rises and Man of Steel on the way, but the the vast stable of DC characters is a potential source of nigh-endless television potential, and the latest less-recognizable superhero who might get his own television series is none other than Booster Gold, aka Michael John Carter.  The cable network Scyfy (formerly known as Sci Fi) has ordered a pilot script for Booster Gold with the hope of creating a one-hour drama series.

“In brightest day … in blackest night, no evil shall escape my sight, let those who worship evil’s might, beware my power … Green Lantern’s light!"

While hardcore comic book fans already recognize that passage as the famous Green Lantern oath, the rest of the world may not be as familiar with the intergalactic police force as fan-boys are. That will all change on June 17^th, as the ring-wielding comic book superhero finally makes his debut on the silver screen.

Green Lantern is based on the immensely popular DC Comics character that first appeared in All-American Comics issue #16 in 1940 and has remained popular for almost sixty years. While the character has gone through many changes over the years and several different people have worn the powerful ring, the film will tell the tale of Hal Jordan, the most prominent and popular of all the Lanterns. In the comics, Jordan was a test pilot before the death of Abin Sur, the Lantern assigned to protect Earth’s sector of the universe. Eventually, Sur’s ring chose Jordan as Earth’s new protector. Upon taking the Lantern’s oath, Jordan was propelled into a world of extra-terrestrial creatures, emerald power rings and outer-space adventures.

On the cusp of Green Lantern's imminent release, it's clear that that first cinematic outing for the emerald superhero had a lot of heavy narrative lifting to do.  Not only does director Martin Campbell's first superhero movie have to establish the concept of an interstellar police force, but it must tell the story of Hal Jordan, the first human Green Lantern inductee.  Obviously a sequel is no guarantee, but the film also includes many an allusion to the elaborate DC Comics mythology, cleverly setting up future installments.  At a press conference for the film, stars Blake Lively and Mark Strong discussed their character's potentially villainous sequel plans, while writer-producer Greg Berlanti teased plans for more Earthling Lanterns.

DC Comics is living up to it’s promise of bringing more of it’s major stars to the big screen. Already tapped for a June 2011 release is the Ryan Reynolds lead Green Lantern. Martin Campbell will direct from a script penned by Greg Berlanti, Michael Goldenberg, Michael Green and Marc Guggenheim. The picture also features actress Blake Lively (The Town) and actor Mark Strong (Kick Ass).