When it was revealed just yesterday that Colton Haynes won’t be returning for Arrow‘s eighth and final season, I’m sure that a lot of hearts sank. Suffice it to say, Roy Harper has caught on as one of the show’s most popular supporting characters, as he’s garnered much support over the years.
To briefly sum up his history, Roy first appeared in season 1, then played a more prominent role in seasons 2 and 3 by eventually emerging as the hero known as Arsenal. Then, Haynes departed from the show and came back for a few guest shots here and there, before being restored to series regular status in season 7. Now, the cycle seemingly repeats itself.
Of course, it’s easy for stuff to get misinterpreted on the internet, thereby forcing Haynes himself to address the situation on Twitter. According to him, it wasn’t his decision to bounce, saying:
“Getting a lot of angry messages so just to clarify…I didn’t exit the last season of Arrow. I was not asked to come back for the final season as a series regular. But y’all know Roy…he’s never gone for too long.”
Based on the sound of that, we should hopefully see Roy in at least one more episode. Whether one of those proves to be during “Crisis on Infinite Earths” or the series finale remains to be seen. But if he doesn’t come back at all, that’s a raw deal for the fanbase because Arsenal is such a quintessential character to the mythos.
Still, there’s much else to celebrate in season 8 when it comes to returning favorites, as Colin Donnell (Tommy Merlyn), Josh Segarra (Adrian Chase) and Susanna Thompson (Moira Queen) are all set to appear in the premiere, with Rila Fukushima (Katana) popping up in the episode to follow.
Arrow returns with new episodes on Tuesday, October 15th on The CW.
