David Ramsey, John Diggle from Arrow, gave his response to the cancellation of the long-gestating Justice U.
The Arrowverse has just one episode remaining in its entire canon. With The Flash‘s series finale set to air on May 25, the sun is setting on the beloved DCTV universe.
The final episode comes as The CW has been in the process of casting aside its superhero programming and pivoting to cheaper, more widely accessible projects. A casualty of the rebranding was Justice U, an in-development series on which Arrow star David Ramsey would have taken the lead.
David Ramsey Speaks Out on Justice U Situation
In an interview with The Cosmic Circus, John Diggle actor and frequent DCTV director David Ramsey responded to the news that development on Justice U, the Arrowverse spin-off in which he was set to star, was canceled.
Ramsey - who appeared in Arrowverse series Arrow, The Flash, Legends of Tomorrow, Supergirl, and Batwoman - remarked that even though the series was no longer moving forward, ”Diggle has a lot of story left:”
“CW decided to pass on all their shows in development. 'Justice U' was one of them. Would it have been great? Of course. I think Diggle has a lot of story left, Lantern ring or not. But again, there is 'Superman and Lois,' which, again, CW hasn’t made a decision on. A version of John Diggle exists within that mythos. We’ll see what happens there.”
The actor made mention of the Green Lantern ring that Diggle received during Arrow’s finale back in 2020. From there, it was shown that the character was plagued by voices in his head as he tried to reject the call of the ring. Dig ultimately did not become a Lantern as fans may have hoped, but Oliver Queen, in a recent guest spot on Flash, said that he made the right choice.
The Cosmic Circus also inquired about the characters that were set to play a role in Justice U, but Ramsey was unable to speak on that point. He also noted that he isn’t privy to what Warner Bros. will end up doing with the series:
“There were a few but I’m still not at liberty to talk about that. And the reason why is because it belongs to Warner Brothers. Even though it was Warner Brothers produced for CW, it’s still a Warner Brothers show, and I’m not quite sure what they’re going to do with that. I know what CW decided to do, but I don’t know what Warner Brothers is gonna do.”
Ramsey then shared the disappointing word that there was a “legit plan” for his character to join the Green Lantern Corps but “things changed:”
“There was… no, that was a legit plan. But, you know, things changed. And I don’t know if it’s unfortunate because I’m a fan of the genre. And you have on a 'WandaVision' shirt. I think that anytime you do superhero content and it’s good, it’s good for all superhero content, right…”
Indeed, the pandemic fouled up most plans for Arrowverse crossovers due to safety protocols prohibiting actors from appearing on other shows’ sets. The franchise was likely waiting for one of its large-scale crossover events to have John Diggle don the ring and recite the oath. But this was not to be.
Additionally, the actor shared his excitement for James Gunn’s grand plans to revamp the DCU, despite “probably not” being involved in any of Gunn’s forthcoming productions:
“So I’m kind of excited to see what [James] Gunn and team will do with Green Lantern, and Superman, and Flash. I’m excited about all that. Will I be a part of it? In its current iteration, probably not. But who knows what happens down the line? And again, man, I’m a fan of the genre. So there’s some disappointment, but at the same time, I’m excited to see what happens next.”
Last December, Ramsey was much more hopeful about the notion that Justice U would make it to broadcast, but The CW’s new president Brad Schwartz clearly had different plans.
Could Justice U Be Saved?
Could David Ramsey’s superhero show be rescued and placed on another network or streaming service? Logic and the available facts suggest that‘s unfortunately not probable.
As Ramsey himself mentioned, James Gunn and Peter Safran have been handed the keys to the on-screen DC Universe and will oversee all DC movies, television series, animation, and video games.
And even though Gunn previously reassured fans that he and Safran are paying attention to the wishes of the fanbase, it seems unlikely that the duo would revisit the Arrowverse, and by extension, Justice U. At least not anytime soon, that is.
Perhaps concepts from Justice U could be repackaged and used in another DC project.
Or maybe, just maybe, the Arrowverse could be revived in a few years’ time. Stephen Amell did say he’d do a movie, after all.
