The beloved DC Comics character Green Arrow is currently thriving on the small screen, with The CW's hit series Arrow starting its fourth season earlier this month. Years before that show ever debuted, though, Warner Bros. was developing a big screen version entitled Green Arrow: Escape From Super Max back in 2008. David S. Goyer and Justin Marks wrote the screenplay, but just one year later, the superhero project was put on indefinite hold, and it still hasn't seen the light of day.

The story featured Green Arrow getting framed for murder and sent to prison, as he sets out to plan his escape. During a new interview with Den of Geek, David S. Goyer shed some light on this project, which would have featured a slew of DC Comics villains, much like the upcoming Suicide Squad. Cameos from Lex Luthor, The Riddler and The Joker were being discussed before the project got shut down, but David S. Goyer revealed it would have been nothing like Suicide Squad. Here's what he had to say, when asked if he thought the Green Arrow: Escape From Super Max script was ahead of its time.

"I think it absolutely was. I think if that script had come over the transom a couple of years later... It was completely ahead of its time. By the way, everything I see about Suicide Squad looks fantastic and it's a different story. But it was absolutely ahead of its time. You know, Marvel was considering doing the Sinister Six and at the time, God, I think this was eight or nine years ago that we wrote a couple of drafts, but it certainly was like this oddball project at Warner Bros at the time, they were like - even though the script was good - 'why would we make a movie about a bunch of villains? That makes no sense.'"

Back in 2008, David S. Goyer already had Batman Begins and The Dark Knight under his belt, and Justin Marks' first feature film Street Fighter: Legend of Chun-Li came out the next year. David S. Goyer went on to write The Dark Knight Rises and Man of Steel, while creating the Starz TV show Da Vinci's Demons and executive producing Constantine. Justin Marks went on to write Disney's upcoming The Jungle Book and the gestating sequel Top Gun 2. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem like Green Arrow: Escape From Super Max will ever happen.

"The executive on it was really visionary, but the higher-ups, none of whom are at Warner Bros any more, just thought at the time, you know, we just want to make Batman and Superman movies. We don't want to make any other characters. But this is before Marvel had really taken off, before more obscure projects like Guardians of the Galaxy or Ant-Man or things like that had huge success, before the current gold rush I guess, if you will. It's natural that eventually someone was going to make a villain movie, so that's just what happened!"

David S. Goyer also confirmed that he has no plans to direct any of the upcoming DC Comics movies that are being developed by Warner Bros. Since Warner Bros. and DC are keeping their movie and TV universes separate, Green Arrow: Escape From Super Max could still exist without interfering with The CW's Arrow, but it seems that ship has sailed. Would you have gone out to see Green Arrow: Escape From Super Max if it ever debuted in theaters? Let us know what you think, and stay tuned for an updates on the DC movie universe.