Green Arrow Proves His Justice League Credentials - By Taking On the Team’s Strongest Members

Summary Green Arrow is working for Amanda Waller and tries to rescue Arsenal.

Queen's journey back home leads to a battle with hard-light constructs of original Justice League members.

Green Arrow must overcome insecurities and show his skills to defeat a mock Justice League.

Warning! Spoilers ahead for Green Arrow #10!Green Arrow is going to have to prove that he belongs in the Justice League by fighting the people he's worked alongside for years. Oliver Queen has been through hell and back, but his troubles are just getting started.

After an arduous trek across time and space, the Emerald Archer has made his way home. Unfortunately, nothing is as it seems and his family is still as broken up as can be. But in Green Arrow's journey to reunite his family, Queen is going to wind up in a fight that can finally prove once and for all he's prime Justice League material.

Green Arrow is Taking on A Security System with Justice League-Level Strength

In Green Arrow #10 by Joshua Williamson, Tom Derenick, Sean Izaakse, Romulo Fajardo Jr., and Troy Peteri, Oliver Queen and his son Connor Hawke are on a mission to steal the Sanctuary files from an old Justice League base. Green Arrow has been blackmailed into doing this mission for Amanda Waller, but Oliver is only doing this to find Roy Harper, the previous person Waller sent to recover the files. Green Arrow and Connor make it to the old base, but they aren’t alone.

Roy speculates that the system has reset itself to create constructs specifically for Green Arrow.

The two archers are surrounded by a squad of Team Arrow associates like Red Arrow, Red Canary, Speedy, and Arrowette. The group attacks Oliver before realizing who he is, leading to a small, heartwarming reunion. The team reveals that they were tasked by Roy to keep anyone out of the base, but that Arsenal hasn’t come out of the base since its doors shut the previous day. Oliver tells everyone else to stay outside while Green Arrow goes in to retrieve Roy and the Sanctuary files.

Green Arrow accesses the system and discovers that Arsenal’s break-in triggered a defense system that wasn’t able to be turned off due to the Justice League disbanding. Oliver finds Roy, disheveled and on edge from fighting hard-light constructs based on people from Arsenal’s past. While Green Arrow convinces Arsenal that Oliver is real, Roy speculates that the system has reset itself to create constructs specifically for Green Arrow. Arsenal’s guess proves to be correct as the Sanctuary system generates constructs of the Justice League’s original line-up.

Green Arrow's Long and Complicated Journey

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While not the most consistent member of the Justice League, Green Arrow has been with the team almost since it first began. He was even on the last incarnation when the team went out to confront a mad Pariah from bringing back the multiverse. Unfortunately, this ended up getting Oliver and his allies trapped in their own paradise planets while Pariah continued his mad work. Eventually, the League broke free and while most Leaguers returned to Earth, Green Arrow became lost in space-time.

Team Arrow searched high and low for Green Arrow. However, Oliver kept his distance from his family after being convinced by a recording of his future self that Green Arrow reuniting with his allies would ultimately destroy the world. Thankfully that was a lie crafted by Queen’s nemesis Merlyn, who had secretly worked with Amanda Waller to keep Team Arrow separated. Once Oliver confronted Merlyn and left him stranded in space-time, Green Arrow returned home and began to track Waller down to make her pay for manipulating Queen’s family.

Oliver Queen's trip home can be seen in Green Arrow Vol. 1: Reunion (2023)!

Waller, now the head of the Bureau of Sovereignty after the events of “Beast World”, was emptying out and redesigning the Hall of Justice (now named the Hall of Order). Queen exploited an entrance known only to a few Justice League members and got himself captured to finally talk to Waller. Waller revealed that the reason she had been manipulating Oliver was because she was preparing for a war against metahumans, and she needed people as skilled as Green Arrow on her side.

Does Green Arrow Have a Shot Against a Justice League?

In its heyday, Sanctuary was meant to help heroes process their feelings by creating hard-light simulations. It was an effective way to process trauma or at least, it was until the horrifying massacre that took place there. While Sanctuary ultimately failed, it held onto a lot of sensitive secrets about heroes and their personal lives, so it only makes sense for the system to use those hard-light constructs to generate a defense to protect itself (and what better protection than that Justice League?).

The Sanctuary system is designed to generate constructs based on one’s personality, meaning it created the Justice League likely because Oliver feels the team is more than enough to handle him. There’s no doubt that Green Arrow is one of, if not the greatest archer in the DC Universe. But internally, it seems like Oliver feels like he has no shot when going up against his closest allies. However, this could serve as a good trial for Green Arrow and help him overcome any potential insecurity he has.

Green Arrow knows he has limits and that he’s not as powerful as a Kryptonian or as fast as a speedster. At the end of the day, Oliver is a guy with a bow and arrow. But he’s a man with a bow and arrow who earned a spot in the Justice League and has faced tougher odds than this. Green Arrow has helped protect the Earth and Universe numerous times, so taking down a mock Justice League should be a walk in the park for him.

Green Arrow Can Show Everyone How Skilled He Really Is

The construct Justice League might not be the genuine article, but it’ll still be a challenge for Green Arrow to defeat them. However, in doing so, Oliver will prove to himself and the world that he’s more than worthy of being considered one of the best heroes around. Even if there isn’t currently a Justice League, Oliver defeating this mock-up of his friends will serve as a perfect example of why the Emerald Archer deserves to be on such a team. Hopefully, Green Arrow has a few tricks in his quiver to take down this manufactured Justice League.

Green Arrow #10 is available now from DC Comics.