Stephen Amell Lands 'Green Arrow' Pilot Lead

When The CW ordered a pilot for a pitched "Smallville" spin-off spotlighting Superman's fellow legendary DC Comics protagonist Green Arrow, it was made known that "Arrow" wouldn't star the young Oliver Queen of over 70 "Smallville" episodes, Justin Hartley.

Now, it can be confirmed: as reported by Deadline, Queen/Green Arrow will be instead played by Stephen Amell.

As heroic turns go, it's one hell of a consolation prize for Amell: he was recently also a finalist to replace the late Andy Whitfield in the titular lead on the hit Starz drama "Spartacus." Whitfield succumbed to non-Hodgkin lymphoma on Sept. 11, 2011 at the age of 40.

As opposed to the young Oliver Queen Hartley portrayed, it sounds like Amell will portray the better-known billionaire industrialist-turned-activist Star City mayor who moonlights as the Green Arrow to combat greed and evil with martial arts prowess, his bow and an array of specialized trick arrows.

Amell is no CW stranger. He's made previous brief turns on "The Vampire Diaries" and the network's relaunch of the late Aaron Spelling's "90210." Even more recently, in addition to nearly succeeding Whitfield, he's made recurring appearances on "Private Practice" and HBO's now-defunct "Hung."

The pilot will be produced by Warner Bros.' television division, and directed by "Smallville" and "The X-Files" veteran David Nutter. It's being written by the team of Andrew Kreisberg, "Green Lantern" movie co-writer Marc Guggenheim and Greg Berlanti.