Oliver Queen the Green Arrow and Barry Allen The Flash are two of the Arrowverse’s most experienced heroes, each with over six seasons of action on the CW. Oliver acts as a mentor to Barry and often gives him solid advice when it comes to heroism and doing the right thing.
The fact of the matter is that these two are completely different characters with very different personalities. Barry is younger, more optimistic and willing to help others. Oliver is the complete opposite, he’s brash, blunt, and struggles to work with others. Somehow the shows led us to believe that these two are the best of friends, but we know they might not actually be. Here are 10 reasons why Oliver and Barry aren’t real friends.
10 Oliver Shot Barry In The Back With An Arrow
Season 1 of The Flash marked the first official time the Green Arrow and The Flash teamed up and it was…not pretty. Barry had worked with Oliver before he got his powers and helped Team Arrow with a robbery, so he knew it would be tough to work with a grumpy Oliver.
What he didn’t know was that Oliver was going to immediately become a superhero drill sergeant, throwing Barry into a training exercise and humiliating him with an arrow to his back. Barry sure did learn to look at his surroundings after that.
9 Barry Ignores Oliver’s Advice
Speaking of Oliver barking orders, in their first meeting they faced a villain that manipulated minds and managed to hurt some people close to Barry. Season 1 Barry is still new to heroics and in turn is impulsive and a tad bit arrogant.
When Oliver tries to advise him against rushing and tries to encourage him to be more vigilant, Barry ignores him and tries to take on the villain by himself. Like most of his solo outings he almost gets killed and learns his lesson.
8 Oliver Downplays Barry’s Heroics
Arrow is known for being a much grittier and darker show, often showing crazier villains and a lot of unfortunate character deaths. The Flash has a lighter tone and relies heavily on sci-fi elements.
In season 3 of The Flash, Barry asks Oliver for help yet again and while Oliver is overwhelmed with his own cities’ troubles he reluctantly decides to help but not after calling Barry’s heroic lifestyle more “sunshine and rainbows”.
7 Barry Shot Oliver In The Back With An Arrow
In Elseworlds, Cw’s 2018 Arrowverse crossover, we saw the two switching roles completely with only them knowing about the switch. We saw Barry as the Green Arrow and Oliver as The Flash with all of each other’s abilities.
When they come to Earth-38 to get Supergirl’s help and train each other, Barry saw it as an opportunity for payback. It may have been funny to Barry at the time but it was a joke played at the wrong time.
6 Oliver Kisses Iris (In Elseworlds)
Before Oliver realized he was living Barry’s life, he woke up to a cheery Iris who gives him a loving kiss because to her, Oliver was her husband.
Although Oliver didn’t intend to kiss Iris back and regretted it afterward, he did take his sweet time to correct her. And of course, Barry was rightfully mad after he found out.
5 They Both Point-Blank Refuse To Help Each Other Sometimes
Every once in a while, a huge crisis will bring the heroes together for one big fight against a common enemy, but that’s usually once a year. When Oliver is dealing with his city being destroyed or a mad man killing his family, he usually deals with it on his own. For Barry, it’s much of the same, only really needing help when the fate of the universe is at stake.
So why don’t they help each other? Oliver could’ve been a huge help saving Iris from Savitar or protecting Ralph from The Thinker. Barry would’ve easily taken down Damien Dahrk or kept Moira Queen safe from Slade Wilson.
It’s been addressed by both characters in their respective show and the answer is just that they’re busy…too busy to help their friend.
4 Barry Never Tells Oliver About The Changes From Flashpoint
When Barry comes back from Flashpoint, he immediately goes to Felicity for advice on how to handle the matter. He refuses to tell his friends and family until he can’t keep it in anymore, but the one person he forgot to tell is his pal, Oliver.
It can be argued that Barry didn’t see a reason to since Oliver’s life didn’t change or maybe he assumed that Felicity would fill him in.
3 Barry Snitches On Oliver To Felicity
During their second crossover, Oliver asks Barry to run a secret DNA test on who he thought was his son with strict instructions to not tell anyone. What he didn’t expect was that Felicity was going to follow him and corner Barry for the answer to what Oliver was really up to.
Barry was put in an awkward position being forced to lie to Felicity, but he broke the bro code and got his buddy in trouble.
2 Barry Freaks Oliver Out By Telling Him About His Time Travel
In their second crossover, Barry and Oliver team up to protect the incarnation of Hawkman and Hawkgirl from an evil Vandal Savage. When it all goes horribly wrong, Barry accidentally runs back in time one day and saves the city from being annihilated.
When he runs back, he immediately tells Oliver and blames him for being distracted in their mission. Oliver, being new to time travel freaks out and has an even harder time dealing with the consequences of hiding his secret.
1 They Both Refuse To Take Each Other’s Advice When Their Roles Are Switched
When Oliver and Barry switch places, they both realize that their job is harder than it looks. For Barry it’s much more than just running fast, it’s all about control, for Oliver his anger and emotions are a weakness on the battlefield and he must learn to control it to fight properly.
It took them a while and a lot of arguing to get it down, but for being so-called friends they should’ve trusted each other.
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