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| THERE CAN BE ONLY ONE AMELL! Sorry, couldn't resist. |
When someone says 'Stephen Amell,' odds are you immediately think of
Arrow. That may change next year since the actor has been cast as Casey Jones -- the rough vigilante who wears a hockey mask -- in the
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles sequel. We'll just have to wait and see if he becomes an awesome version of the fan favorite character, but for now, I can't help but wonder what would happen if these two heroes got into a brawl. We know Amell will get plenty of 'who would win in a fight?' questions about these two at press junkets, and odds are he'll try his best to makes sure he doesn't upset either fanbase. Or maybe he'll totally surprise us and say one blatantly wins. Guess we'll find out eventually. However, I have no problem declaring a winner and I do believe one of these vigilantes does hold a clear edge. Before I say who should be the one left standing when the fight is over, let's go over their advantages and disadvantages. I mean, it's the fair thing to do, right?
Amell's
Green Arrow is a gifted hand-to-hand fighter and one hell of a good shot with projectile weapons. He's held his own against various skilled enemies in melee combat over the course of 3 seasons. From China White to Deathstroke to Maseo, we know he's one of the strongest melee combatants in his world. He's had trouble with plenty of enemies and it was clear people like Bronze Tiger and Ra's al Ghul are his superior in technique, but he was still able to give Bronze Tiger trouble and Ra's had a whole lot of praise for Arrow's abilities as a fighter (despite the fact the hero was totally sloppy during their fight, but whatever). Simply put, the dude's got solid technique and that has allowed him to adapt to a variety of opponents and thanks to the harsh stuff he endured on the island and then in Starling City, we know he can take quite a lot of punishment, too. Obviously, he's had plenty of showings to justify he's a good shot with everything from an ordinary arrow to a throwing dagger. That's established right from the very first episode (those poor tennis balls) and even though Ray Palmer wasn't moving, a recent episode of
Arrow showed Oliver can quickly use a throwing weapon with great precision. This should be proof he's capable of disarming Casey at a distance. Well, assuming he even tries to.
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| 'Goongala? You have failed at catchphrases.' |
Arrow's pretty awesometastic in combat, but despite having a bunch of trick arrows available to him, he doesn't tend to use them very frequently. He's also quick to rush into melee combat despite being an impressive marksman. He could beat most characters by hanging back and putting those trick arrows to use, but he doesn't do that all that often. Sure, we can say he regularly avoids that strategy because it would make many of the show's conflicts way too easy for him, but we have to treat that as how he acts in character. So, even though he could quickly end this with some trick arrows right when the fight starts, that doesn't seem very probable and the odds of him choosing to duke it out after firing just a few arrows are very likely. He'll also do everything he can to avoid killing, and while that technically isn't a disadvantage (it certainly doesn't make Batman any less dangerous, does it?), it does mean he's holding back and this is something that can be taken advantage of. Arrow's hesitation could give Casey the small opening he'd need for a cheap shot.
We've seen plenty of versions of Casey Jones and right now we have no idea what Amell's version will be like, but the one thing they all have in common is they're aggressive brawlers who have no problem dishing out a cheap hit. In fact, Jones tends to love landing cheap hits. Whether it's while his enemy is talking or if they think he may be down for the count, the Ninja Turtles character uses any opportunity he can to strike his enemy when their guard is down. It's not the most honorable approach around, but when your fighting style is sometimes 'it's okay if you get hit, just hit back harder,' then I guess you got to do what you got to do. He doesn't have the same extensive training and technique Arrow has, but he makes up for that by simply being an incredibly tough dude. His first brawl with Raphael (in the Mirage comic) was a brutal encounter that wiped both of them out and since then we've seen him land plenty of cheap shots when his enemies think he's too weak to continue and have their guard down. Seeing as Arrow loves to get in close and he wouldn't want to dish out any lethal damage, I'd say there's a good chance Casey Jones is going to get some extremely cheap hits in. They may not keep Oliver down for the count, but even stunning the archer would leave him vulnerable to some follow-up attacks.
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| 'You want a fist in the mouth? I've never even looked at your abs.' |
Casey's one tough fellow who knows how to take a hit and send one back even harder, but he isn't the most tactical or skilled fighter around. It's clear Oliver has the edge in martial arts knowledge and that means he's going to land more hits. We know Casey can take a beating, but he's only human and those hits will begin to add up. He'll use this to his advantage and get a sucker punch or two in as Arrow thinks his opponent is going to stay down, but the longer the fight goes on, the more and more it shifts in Oliver's favor. While Casey's limited to close combat (he
could throw his blunt weapons, but he'd be throwing them at a dude who deals with marksmen, so it's not a game changer), Arrow can eventually think something along the lines of, 'Okay, I'm done with this,' and use a trick arrow to take Casey out of the fight. Whether it's an electric arrow to the chest, a rope tying Casey to a wall, or even just using an explosive close enough to knock Casey down, Arrow is bringing so much more versatility to the fight. There's no reason to believe he wouldn't be okay with tagging Casey in non-lethal areas with some regular arrows as well. When it's up close, it'll be entertaining as Oliver dishes out better skill and Casey unleashes a more rough and direct style, but at a distance, well, Casey better hope he has plenty of cover.
In the end, I just don't see Casey Jones' toughness overcoming Arrow's superior skill and variety of gear. Knowing Arrow, this will come down to close combat at some point (the guy was foolish enough to go hand-to-hand against Bronze Tiger in their second brawl), but I think he'd eventually realize the best way to take a key edge over Jones is with one of his spiffy arrows. Even if that doesn't happen, he can just win because of his better hand-to-hand knowledge. It would be a pretty cool battle to witness and Arrow would probably walk away with some bruises, but in the end, I see the DC hero holding all of the important advantages. He's more skilled, has more options, and he definitely doesn't have a glass jaw. That said, I'd be rooting for Casey Jones the entire time. Sorry, Arrow.
