With Arrow reaching its end this year, season 8 looks set to honor The CW show’s long past and bring back a few old favorites. One of the most notable returning faces in the series’ final season is Colin Donnell as Tommy Merlyn. Donnell was, of course, an Arrow regular for its first run until Oliver Queen’s best pal died in the finale.
So, how come Tommy’s back for season 8? This question of whether the character could still be alive was posed to star Stephen Amell during this weekend’s TCAs and the actor gave a tight-lipped yet telling response, saying:
“It’s definitely possible on an Earth.”
This pretty much confirms what we all guessed when Donell was confirmed to be returning: that he would be playing a version of Tommy from another universe. After all, Amell has revealed that the Emerald Archer will be aiding the Monitor in the run-up to the incoming Crisis on Infinite Earths, so we know that the hero will be visiting other Earths. In fact, this isn’t even the first time that Donell will be playing an alt-Tommy. Remember his cameo as Prometheus-X in “Crisis on Earth-X”?
The star has previously teased his Arrow comeback as well, promising that “fans are going to see Tommy in a way that they’ve maybe wanted for a while.” What could this mean, though? Will this alt-Tommy be a vigilante maybe? Could he be the Green Arrow of his Earth? That would certainly be fun to see.
Elsewhere, Adrian Chase (Josh Segarra) and Moira Queen (Susanna Thompson) will be returning as well. Presumably, they’ll also be playing new versions of their characters, as both Prometheus and Ollie’s mother died back in season 2 and 5, respectively. Amell has also hinted at even more surprise guest stars on the way.
Who they might be is still unknown, but we’ll find out soon enough, as Arrow season 8 is set to premiere on The CW on Tuesday, October 15th.
