Arrow season 8: Colton Haynes will actually be returning as Arsenal

After fears that he may not return for season 8, it turns out that Colton Haynes will in fact be present during the final season of Arrow.

In an Entertainment Weekly exclusive, it has been announced that Colton Haynes will be returning as Roy Harper during the upcoming final season of Arrow. This news allays some of the fears that he would not be returning in any capacity after the announcement that he would no longer be a series regular, after returning to the series in Season 7.

It wouldn’t make sense in a story or thematic sense to not include Roy in some capacity during the final season of Arrow, so it’s nice to know he will be returning.

Roy Harper has been a staple of Arrow all the way back to the first season of the show. He may have not always been the focus, but his struggles and relationship with Thea always brought a grounding reality to a show that could often become much too melodramatic for its own good. The character also was given a new dimension in Season 7 during the flash-forward sequences as more of a mentor figure to William, Oliver Queen’s son.

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Once he left the show on a regular basis, only making sporadic appearances, the heart that he brought to the table also left, so its exciting to see Colton Haynes bring that heart to the table yet again, especially with Willa Holland returning as well.

There’s also plenty of story left to be told for the character. What happened that led to Thea putting him into a Lazarus Pit? Why did he exile himself to Lian Yu, following in Oliver’s footsteps? Did he ever reconcile with Thea?

Plenty of questions and probably some we won’t get the answers to, but that’s alright.

Arrow will premiere its final season on October 15th. Are you glad to hear that Roy will be returning? Let us know in the comments below!