When we meet Oliver Queen (Stephen Amell) in the first episode of “Arrow,” premiering Wednesday night at 8 on the CW, he is a feral creature. Stranded on a deserted island in the North China Sea, he has a scraggly beard, an electroshock mane, and wild eyes. He is one face-painted volleyball away from madness.

But all that quality alone time, fending for himself in the elements, has transformed Queen even further mentally and physically in this adaptation of the DC Comics superhero tale Green Arrow.