Is Garret Dillahunt playing Green Arrow in James Gunn's DCU? Explored

Green Arrow has been a cult favorite among DC fans, from before the debut of his solo series, Arrow, on the CW. The Emerald Archer, as Green Arrow is known, is the protector of Star City, much like Batman is to Gotham, and his alter ego is the billionaire Oliver Queen, who has even served as mayor of the city for a while.

However, Green Arrow/Oliver Queen isn't known as universally as Bruce Wayne or Batman is. Now, however, an interesting development has sparked excitement among fans about the prospects of the character.

Actor Garret Dillahunt, the man who plays the supporting character William Macon in the upcoming DCU project, Lanterns (to be released on HBO), has shared a post on Instagram stories in a get-up that seems like the character Green Arrow. The actor posted two images — one a storyboard version and another an image of him seemingly as Green Arrow.

This put fans in a tizzy, who have been waiting to see the character ever since the conclusion of Arrow in 2020.

Is Garret Dillahunt DCU's Green Arrow?

Simply put — no.

Lanterns actor Garret Dillahunt is not playing the cult-favorite hero Green Arrow in James Gunn and Peter Safran's DCU. This was confirmed by Gunn himself when a fan with the username the_supermarioguy asked the DC Studios Co-CEO whether Dillahunt was playing the Emerald Archer in the DCU on Threads. To the fan's question, Gunn responded:

Based on what he said, it seems for now, Garret Dillahunt is only playing William Macon. His character has been described thus in the Deadline report that broke his casting news in November 2024:

"A self-righteous, conspiracy-minded man who masks his ruthless ambition behind a charming and calculated facade."

While some might be disappointed that Dillahunt isn't playing Oliver Queen in the DCU, it makes sense that he isn't cast as the Emerald Archer, because Garret Dillahunt is 60 years old, and if Oliver Queen is ever introduced in the DCU, he probably should be played by a younger actor to set up his romance with the Black Canary.

Plus, if Green Arrow were to ever have a chance at a comic-book accurate adaptation, it might be possible under the leadership of James Gunn, a man who is known for bringing obscure comic book stories to the big screen and turning them into pop culture icons. No one knew Guardians of the Galaxy until 2014, when the James Gunn-directed movie was released in cinemas across the world.

The previous two live-action adaptations of Green Arrow didn't capture the essence of the character

The Emerald Archer has been adapted on the CW network not once, but twice. The first time the character was adapted on the CW was for Smallville, played by actor Justin Hartley. He was introduced in the young Superman series in the sixth season, and continued to be one of its main protagonists until the conclusion of the series.

However, the character drew a comparatively wider audience with the 2012 solo series, simply titled Arrow. While this series did push the character a bit closer to his comic book counterpart, there is still a lot of way to go for the Emerald Archer to have a live-action adaptation that captures his progressive politics, the essence of his character.

Oliver Queen in the comics is a card-carrying socialist who changed Star City with his progressive policies during his tenure as the mayor. This is a side that both CW avoided in Smallville and Arrow. Thus, a lot of fans believe that James Gunn is someone who could bring this aspect alive on the big or small screen.

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