Stephen Amell is similar to Robert Downey, Jr. Both were picked by their respective companies to hopefully start a huge run of superhero material. Downey did it with Marvel movies while Amell did it with DC television shows. Both succeeded, and were able to not only make people care about their show but also get excited about others. It clearly worked on both ends, but unlike Downey, Amell lives up to his part a bit more.

Downey is under a mask for the bulk of his time as Ironman, which means we only see him when he plays Tony Stark. Amell is often the one wearing the Green Arrow suit on his show, Arrow. That means he's often doing his own stunts, which sets him apart from many. It also saves the studio on the use of stunt men. Though Warner Bros. does not want to injure Stephen Amell, it does seem that they enjoy seeing him play the part through most things.

Obviously the more dangerous the act, the more unlikely Amell is to do it due to the studio stopping him. Regardless, we're seeing a guy who not only fits the part he was casted for, but shows he might actually be a real life superhero. Now, it is unlikely people are going to believe this from a random website, in a random article, on the random internet. But we realize that. So we brought proof! These are the fifteen times Stephen Amell proved he may really be a superhero.

He Developed A Tick For Green Arrow...Or For Himself

There is an issue with people who get involved in combat of any kind. You often see this with people who are in the Armed Forces, but often times they develop a bit of a tick. This is something that happens when they are used to doing something so often that they develop the random need to do it even when they aren't in that world.

So would any real superhero also have these random ticks? Chances are that they would end up developing one, if not more than out of nerves. Stephen Amell plays the Green Arrow and the character is often going to be shooting arrows at people during the many episodes he takes part in. Amell actually developed a tic for the part that is often subtle, but can be seen throughout the series. In that, he has a twitching motion with his hand as if he is constantly reaching to find an arrow at certain points.

While Amell claims he does not have this tick in real life, he would have insane acting commitment to pull this off as often as he does it and in the way he does it. Chances are, this is something he may have some issue with in real life too.

He Is An Ace On Social Media...Or So He Wants Us To Believe

People forget that Stephen Amell is not like many actors, in that all of his social media is done by him. Many have their publicist, social media manager, or some intern handle things for them. Amell is not like this and makes sure everyone knows that we know which are his true accounts. This is both helpful and harmful for Amell, as a hack could cause some major issues for him if that ever did happen to him. Thankfully, he has stayed pretty clear of such things. While he uses Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter, he prefers Facebook most of all. This is for good reason. There are tons of fakes on Twitter. Not as much as Facebook it seems, and the 5 million+ that he has there enjoy it is truly him.

On Facebook, the major area where stars are not really running their own account, he has done live videos. He does not do them as often as he once did, but there was a time where Amell was doing about one a week. He has used this to spread love over hate, charitable fund-raising, and much more. Most superheroes want you to know of their real world identity far more than their secret one. A man who is not willing to let anyone run his social accounts and does all he can to be active on them is clearly trying to prove something. We're on to you Stephen!

He Stands Up For His Friends, In Particular The Flash

There was a time when we heard that both The Flash and possibly Green Arrow would be making their way to the big screen for Warner Bros. Obviously this came off as huge, as everyone was happy to see them in movie theaters and not just on their TV all the time. The problem with this? Warner Bros. did not plan to use Grant Gustin to play The Flash in the movies, as they claimed they wanted to keep the TV universe separate from the Movie universe. While DC is known for the multi-verse quite often, this did not sit well with Amell.

Not only did Stephen raise important points, but also claimed very publicly that he felt Grant should have been used in the movie. While Amell did not want to spread hate toward Warner Bros. and wished them luck, he did say something that most fans of the TV universe were saying. He would go on to say in 2016 on a Comic-Con panel that he would also not mind if someone played the Green Arrow in the movie universe. Of course, good luck to Warner Bros. with trying to get fans to not care about that. It isn't like we got used to one guy playing the part for 6 years....oh wait. Clearly Amell had to be saying this to throw us off the scent of his superhero ways. You cannot hide from this, Amell!

You've Seen Him On The Salmon Ladder, Right?

Probably one of the biggest cases of superheroes being found out would be with Stephen Amell and what he does on the salmon ladder. This was something Amell claimed they stole from the Ninja Warrior series. Amell might be one of the best at it too, and no one does this for him on the show. They actually have Amell do this exercise quite a lot for the Arrow TV series, to the joy of straight women everywhere. And likely some straight men too (we aren't judging). Due to this real life ability, it makes us wonder.

If Amell truly has the clear upper body strength to do this, what else could he have the ability to do? This exercise does takes arm strength, but also strength in the core. He also has to do this particular work-out a lot in order to be good at it. Clearly he is known for this in the show, but there have been times where stunt doubles do this by just not showing the face. Not so with Amell. So why would he do this? Reverse psychology. He wants us to believe he can do this for real so that he shows he really could be a superhero, that way we won't think he is one. Nice try Stephen, nice try!

He Likely Does More Comic-Cons Than Most

While we all know of the Comic-Con that happens in San Diego every year, the area that gets the most coverage of any, Stephen Amell does not stop here. He does attend this event all the time, but he could be seen in multiple throughout the year. For a guy who gets offers to do a ton of TV and movie material, it is quite interesting that a husband and father would take personal time away to go to these smaller Comic-Cons. This is often something you see people who are mostly out of show business continue with.

Amell could not be further from that. He is still doing Arrow and will likely continue doing the show as long as they are willing to do it. He played Casey Jones in the recent Ninja Turtles movie too. Clearly he is being used a lot through the year. So why take on so many extra places to meet the fans? One would say it is because he is excellent with fans.  However, we should also consider the idea that there could be crime he is stopping in these areas and the Comic-Cons give him a reason to go to not blow his cover. Come on now, we saw right through this, Stephen!

A Fan Of 'Arrow' Picked A Real Fight With Him And Amell Handled Himself Well

In the real world, many us may know Stephen Amell may really be a superhero. However, it is unlikely we're going to go up to the guy and fight him. Consider the fact that if he is indeed a superhero like we all think, he would likely destroy us in a real fight. Surely he may not take us our, as that is the superhero code and all. However, that may just be a thing for TV. We don't know! Yet some Wahoo McDaniel does decided to try his luck against Amell in a real-life fight back in 2016.

Amell claimed on social media: "Dude came up to me yesterday... Head Butts me hard. Outta nowhere... Then says -- "I want to fight the Green Arrow." Paused, looked at him... shook his hand and said no thank you. Because I'm a father and a husband. Pretty manly if you ask me." We get it Stephen, you "walked away" from the encounter. Let's be honest though. This was in public, so he obviously could not hurt the guy in real life and not blow his cover. Come on! We have not heard from that other guy though, just take that into account.

That Time He Rocked It In The WWE

It is likely that many WWE fans had never heard of Stephen Amell, and likely had not even heard of the Green Arrow or his show on The CW. Obviously there are many crossover fans, but not all fans will watch both. With the season of Arrow fast-approaching in 2015, WWE found a way to use him. A longtime WWE fan, he has been to several WWE events and even claimed he would love to wrestle for them in some capacity if given the chance. He made this well known and the fans pressured WWE to give it a shot.

Cody Rhodes, who played the Stardust character at the time, would be rival of Amell going into all this. Not only would Amell hop the barrier, but he would shock the world at how agile he was when going to attack Stardust. This eventually led to a tag match with him at WWE SummerSlam that year where he just demolished the competition. Since then, Amell and Cody have remained friends and he has wrestled as part of the Bullet Club for Ring of Honor. This is the company his buddy Cody now works for. Cody would go on to appear in an Arrow episode and Amell claimed he would love to get him back on there. Oh yeah, and Amell is still impressive in the ring in ROH. Don't believe he's a superhero yet? Watch the video.

 He Uses His Social Media Power With Great Responsibility 

Stephen Amell is a huge sports fan. While his WWE fanhood was noted above, he is also a big hockey and baseball fan. As a Canadian, it makes sense for him to love the sport played on ice but less likely that he would love America's pastime. Yet he is a diehard Toronto Bluejays fan, and has used his social media to hype up certain players for the team in the past. One being Josh Donaldson, who he was able to get people to vote for so he could be in the all-star game. This was not the last time he would do it either.

He went on to get Justin Smoak into the all-star game too. This was clearly because of his relation to Felicity, of course. It is clear that Amell has a good relationship with his fans, and he uses social media to stay in touch with them as often as possible. This is a big deal, as they are likely the people helping him keep his persona of the actor Stephen Amell out there. They are also likely keeping us from knowing his true superhero ways. Maybe he has another Felicity keeping things off the internet, we don't know, but we're on to it!

A Loving Husband Who Gives Nothing To Tabloids To Report

It is common for people to follow around celebrities in hopes of catching them in awkward circumstances. Clearly, this works out pretty well and has been done a lot more over the years. Paparazzi will take images of people without clothing at times, or they'll end up catching them in other compromising situations. One of the biggest things is catching them in scandals, such as being with someone who they are not in a notable relationship with. Stephen Amell is just like other stars in that the paparazzi followed him a ton to catch something.

The issue with Amell is that he does not give them anything to use. He is a loving husband to his wife, Cassandra. When he is not with her, such as when he's on set, he is known for calling or meeting up with her close-by. The guy seems crazy about his wife, and it is good that he is. Though we need to state the obvious here. The paparazzi may stop following the guy a lot due to how good of a husband he is, but this was likely the plan. Without them around, he can become the superhero we know he is. Think about it, all superheroes have to do is be good husbands! Amell found the secret, so good on him. Someone should inform Cyclops.

His Literal Superhero Workouts 

Working out is something any superhero has to do to stay in shape, this is something we all have done. Whether it is going to a gym a lot or whenever we can, we've all been there right? It seems Stephen Amell is someone who keeps himself invested in having a good body for the television show. Obviously looking good for TV is important, as your look can be judged. However, it is even more important in a role where you have to do a ton of your own stunts, and live up to being a superhero.

Amell has posted a lot of workouts he takes part in, as he wants to show how he stays in shape in order to do what we see on television. While he is often in the gym to make sure he gets in shape from normal weights and workouts, he also does things like parkour. It is better known today as crossfit, but Amell was involved in this well before your local hippy was. This is what allowed him to do some of the amazing real material you see him perform without a stunt double. While Amell claims he does this for TV, he also does it for himself. He must, of course. How else could he possibly remain a superhero away from the cameras?

Family Is An Important Factor For Him 

The image of a family man is important to have, people like to see someone in power be caring towards his family and friends. While this has not proven to be a useful tactic in leadership ability, people like seeing it. Thus, the appearance of it is seen by many despite not being that good of a person. Stephen Amell actually lives this out, and does not do it for the cameras or the media in general.

This is an important thing, as he's the same family guy on camera as he is off it. He's known for showing pictures of time spent with his daughter as well as the loads of things he does with cousin and fellow actor Robbie Amell. Robbie actually played Firestorm on The Flash before being written out to take on a bigger role somewhere else. Stephen has proven to still be a good cousin even after he left. It is likely Robbie is just "an actor," unlike his cousin. However, Stephen does talk up Robbie, and supports him.

His Stance On Inequality 

While Stephen Amell is Canadian, like Wolverine before him, he did want to make sure United States citizens had certain rights. There has been a huge issue in America over the years regarding the allowance of marriage amongst all people. While people may disagree on it, the U.S. was founded on separation of church and state. This meant that people had the right to marry whomever they chose to. When the U.S. Supreme Court was considering the idea of allowing it, Stephen said on his personal Facebook: “Marriage – and all the benefits that come with it – should be available to everybody.”

This saw wild support from his fans. He also supported his former co-star Colton Haynes when he came out after battling through the ordeal for years. He even welcomed him to come back to Arrow when discussing the situation on E! during an interview, and said, "he just needs to show up on set and we'll find him something to do on the show."

People assume that superheroes have to always get into fights or help stop a robbery. Sometimes it is not even starting a fight, but trying to end one. It's about using words as power. Amell fits that role real well.

His Appearances In Sporting Events

We all know about his WWE venture by now, but you may not know what Stephen Amell has participated in other sporting event material too. He took part in the Honda NHL All-Star Weekend last year, and likely would do it again this year if asked. He showed off while there, but that is not where it ends for him at sporting events. As mentioned here, he is a huge Toronto BlueJays fan, so he was able to do something special with the team.

They allowed him to jump in last June during batting practice where he got to hit with his favorite team. While he did not pull a Tim Tebow and hit a homerun on his first time at bat with the major leaguers, he did show off some skill. He would hit a homer eventually too. Obviously he wants to show that he is no normal celebrity. He couldn't give them all he had, but he also could not just be another actor either. This meant during these events he had to be something, or someone, else.

Charitable Causes Are Quite Heroic If You Ask Us

Likely what Stephen Amell is most known for, outside of being a superhero, would be what he does for charity. A good hearted guy, he finds whatever way he can to be charitable as often as humanly possible. The only thing that seems to stop him would be the idea of what charitable causes to do next. His most popular form of this was his campaign to help fight diseases. He sold shirts with the real words on it, some without. But it would raise multitudes of money.

He also raffled off the WWE Slammy Award he won, all for charity. He even sold shirts for his match with Stardust that all went directly to charitable causes. It is almost nauseating how much charity he does per year. This is not even going over the times he visits kids as the Green Arrow. It is, of course, easy for him to visit them in costume. He is just coming from a fight to likely save the world once again. All the charity is something Bruce Wayne is known for too, and we saw how he spent his evenings. Except Stephen Amell is real people!

American Ninja Warrior Pretty Much Proves It

American Ninja Warrior seemed like a perfect place for Stephen Amell to show off his amazing skills that he uses on Arrow. He claimed during an interview that he and the producers of the show had been talking off and on for years about him doing something with the show. Eventually he was able to join in for charity. He took part along with other celebs for Red Nose Day, where the further he went on the course the more money he would raise.

Amell would destroy the course and go to the end of the celebrity portion of the course. However, he wasn't done. The next part of the course was the salmon ladder, which obviously he had to do. Amell would show off longer than any other that day and raise $35,000 for charity. Obviously Stephen Amell likely could have run the entire course without much problem, but he did not want to blow his cover of course. We get it Stephen, we all get it.