Only two people have ever completed all four stages of American Ninja Warrior’s obstacle course, which is so difficult that even referring to it as an obstacle course seems disingenuous. Those two were Isaac Caldiero and Geoff Britten, both seasoned rock climbers. Athletes and professionals from all sports and physical activities—even parkour!—have attempted to master the seemingly impossible course, but only those two have succeeded. Hoping to be the third? Stephen Amell, the CW actor.
Apparently forgetting that playing a superhero on television isn’t the same as being a superhero in real life, Amell believes he has what it takes to compete on the reality competition show, which has been running on NBC since 2009. Most Hollywood celebrities that have competed on the course in the past have been stuntpeople, like Jesse Graff, whose stunts have been seen on Supergirl and Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. (Graff became the first woman to ever complete Stage 1 in the finals.) Meanwhile, Amell does have a stunt double on Arrow, but he does a decent amount of his own stunts as well. Maybe he really does have what it takes to at least not totally embarrass himself on the American Ninja Warrior track, where some of the top athletes in the world have nonetheless faltered on some of the “easier” obstacles. Amell made his #2017goals known on Twitter:
Amell has some experience with reality sports shows, having bizarrely appeared on WWE Raw last year, and it’s likely NBC would jump at the opportunity to get a well known celebrity like Amell on the track. Conquering the course doesn’t merely require bulging, beautiful muscles—which Amell has in excess—though. He’s certainly fit, but is he American Ninja Warrior fit? Almost no one is.