A month or so ago, the CW’s Arrow name dropped another major DC Comics’ character that fans of the show likely weren’t expecting. The moment came right as Oliver Queen (Stephen Amell) was dealing with the press in the wake of a leaked image showing him dressed as the Green Arrow. Oliver called the image a fake and suggested it was just as likely that someone with a copy of Photoshop could have plastered Bruce Wayne’s face onto the Green Arrow’s head.

To admit that Batman also occupies the world of the CW’s Arrowverse opened the door to all kinds of possibilities, the most pie-in-the-sky of which being an eventual cameo by the Dark Knight himself. But how did this important moment first take root? Amell explained as much in a recent interview with Nerdist:

The original version of that script, which came out right before Comic-Con, it was just Oliver referencing a famous name. I looked at it and I thought to myself, ‘This is a cool opportunity.’ I spoke with Greg Berlanti about it, and Greg said, ‘You know, I think it would behoove you to just go directly to Geoff Johns and just simply ask. You’ll probably have better luck than I would.’

It wasn’t until a chance encounter with a trio of DC Entertainment and Warner Bros. executives that Amell was able to make his big pitch. Surprisingly, it wasn’t a very hard sell.

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Geoff and I were supposed to meet and chat quickly, I couldn’t track him down, and the next thing that I knew I ended up in a four-way conversation with Peter Roth, Diane Nelson, and Kevin Tsujihara, all at the same time. I was like, ‘Guys, I have an idea! It’ll cost you nothing. I think it’d be really fun. It opens the door to a lot of possibilities.

So anyway, I have this holy trinity of DC and Warner Bros TV and Warner Bros overall in front of me, and I pitched this idea. I’ve got all my follow-up points, and Kevin Tsujihara just goes, ‘Yeah, sure.’ I said, ‘Really?’ He said, ‘Yeah, that sounds fun. Do that.’ So we did it! I didn’t actually believe it would make it until I actually saw it in the locked cut.

A little reference for those names: Peter Roth is the chief executive of Warner Brothers Television, Diane Nelson is president of DC Entertainment and chief content officer of Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, while Kevin Tsujihara is the CEO of Warner Bros. Entertainment. So, yeah, name-dropping Batman apparently sends you straight to the top -- as it should.

Starring Stephen Amell as the Emerald Archer, Arrow airs Thursdays at 9 p.m. ET/PT on The CW. The series also stars Emily Bett Rickards, David Ramsey, Willa Holland and more.

(via i09)