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Wearing a superhero costume is cool, but sometimes it’s a bit too cool. Especially when you’re in Vancouver, British Columbia, in winter, and you have no sleeves. Just ask Stephen Amell, who played the DC superhero Green Arrow on the CW drama Arrow.

When asked about Oliver Queen’s costumes, Amell revealed that he occasionally had input over the designs.  “Yeah, a little here and there,” Stephen Amell says during a spotlight panel at MCM Comic Con 2023.

However, Amell came to regret one of his costume pitches.

“I was the one who suggested we remove sleeves at one point. And then I spent a winter filming outside, so I suggested that we put them back on and they said, ‘What’s the reason that you put them back on.’ And I went, ‘Because I’m cold.’ And they’re like, ‘But from a story point.’ ‘I don’t care.’ And then we actually ended up figuring out a way to work it in after it happened.”

Oliver Queen’s sleeveless look debuted in Arrow season four, but by season five the sleeves had returned. The story reason for the switch was to add Kevlar armor after a villain had exploited a weakness in Oliver’s exposed arms. The real reason was because Vancouver is a cold place.

Lesson learned, when designing a superhero suit, always keep the weather in mind.

Watch the panel for yourself below. 

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