Look who’s trading the Arrowcave for Venice Beach. Stephen Amell, the man who spent eight years brooding beautifully as Oliver Queen on Arrow, has been cast as the lead in Fox’s Baywatch reboot. This time, he’s stepping into a pair of those iconic red swim trunks to play Hobie Buchannon, all grown up and ready to save lives.
If you remember the original Baywatch (and who doesn’t?), Hobie was the son of David Hasselhoff‘s character Mitch Buchannon, played by Brandon Call and later Jeremy Jackson. Now, Amell’s Hobie has leveled up considerably.
The character is now a Baywatch captain, following in daddy’s legendary footsteps. But here’s where it gets juicy: Hobie’s world gets flipped when Charlie, the daughter he never knew existed, shows up wanting to become a lifeguard alongside him. Talk about a plot twist that would make even the Hoff raise an eyebrow.
Showrunner Matt Nix (Burn Notice, The Gifted) is clearly thrilled about landing Amell. He praised the actor’s ability to “sprint into danger, carry the emotional weight, and still make it feel fun.”
Amell marks the first official casting for the Baywatch reboot, which received a straight-to-series order from Fox back in September with 12 episodes. The network is clearly betting big on this one, hoping to recreate some of that sweet ’90s nostalgia while giving it a contemporary spin. Production kicks off this spring in Venice Beach and on the Fox lot in Century City.
The timing is interesting for Amell, who just wrapped his brief stint on NBC’s Suits: LA spinoff. Apparently, one legal drama wasn’t enough to keep this man from the call of the ocean. Or at least the call of another broadcast network paycheck.
Fox is hosting an open casting call on February 18 in Marina Del Rey to fill the remaining lifeguard positions. At its peak in the ’90s, the original Baywatch was the most-watched show globally, airing in over 200 countries. Can lightning strike twice? We’ll find out when the series debuts during the 2026-2027 season.
