Executive producer Beth Schwartz reveals to ET why the scene from the season 8 opener was left on the cutting room floor.
There was a lot we didn't see from Arrow's final season.
ET exclusively premieres a deleted scene from the season 8 premiere, "Starling City," which found vigilante hero Oliver Queen (Stephen Amell) transported to a parallel earth, Earth-2, to complete a dangerous mission for The Monitor (LaMonica Garrett) in the lead-up to "Crisis on Infinite Earths."
In the scene, which was ultimately cut for time, Oliver makes his way to Queen-Merlyn Enterprises, the company run by his mother, Moira Queen, and Malcolm Merlyn, only to be caught by Malcolm's bodyguard, Rene Ramirez (Rick Gonzalez) as he's trying to gather intel at Curtis' computer. Things get a little hairy for Oliver from that point on.
"What are you doing here?" Earth-2 Rene asks Oliver, who looks up from the computer with a scowl on his face in ET's first look, which will be available on the Arrow: The Eighth & Final Season DVD and Blu-ray set.
"Whatever the hell I want. Last I checked it was my name on the side of the building," Oliver fires back, before threatening him with a stern warning. "Just don't let anyone know that you saw me doing anything down here, otherwise you'll probably have difficulty getting a job pushing a mop at Big Belly Burger."
Message received, Oliver.
Executive producer Beth Schwartz revealed why this encounter between Oliver and Rene on Earth-2 didn't make it into the episode that aired.
"It's so funny," Schwartz tells ET of the brief moment. "I was so sad to cut it and the only reason we cut it was because we were over about maybe four minutes, which doesn't seem like a lot, but it is a lot when you like every single second of what's on the screen. We only chose to cut that scene because it didn't affect the rest of the story. It wouldn't be confusing to the audience without having that. But yeah, it was really fun and I'm glad everyone gets to see it now."
As Schwartz tells it, the banter between the two characters in this scene highlighted just how unique Oliver and Rene's dynamic was, even if this does technically take place on an alternate Earth.
"I think it's fun because Oliver and Rene always kind of had an interesting relationship. In the finale, [there's a line about Oliver and Rene], 'You two are so alike,' which is why I think they butt heads a lot," Schwartz explains. "This was a fun nod where you could tell Stephen was having a lot of fun giving [some heat back] to Rene."
Arrow: The Eighth & Final Season is available on Digital now, and on DVD and Blu-ray on Tuesday, April 28.
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