Season 4 of Arrow ended with the members of Team Arrow mostly headed their separate ways in the wake of Laurel's death. Based on the casting news released so far over hiatus, however, it's safe to say that Arrow isn't going to be lacking for characters in Season 5 no matter how long the Team Arrow break lasts. One character that was introduced in Season 4 will be coming back with a new name and a new look for Season 5. Madison McLaughlin will reprise the role of Evelyn Sharp, who will this time take on the guise of Artemis.
Madison McLaughlin made her Arrow debut in the end of Season 4 as Evelyn Sharp, who seized the mantle of the Black Canary in the episode immediately following Laurel's death. Oliver and Co. ultimately stopped her from continuing as the Black Canary 2.0, but she clearly wasn't entirely discouraged from finding a way to fight crime. Season 5 will feature an Evelyn who traded in her Canary Cry for a bow to hit the streets as vigilante archer Artemis, according to Variety.
Evelyn Sharp will make her debut as Artemis in the second episode of Season 5 and is set to appear in multiple subsequent installments. Her original goal as a vigilante had been to get revenge on Damien Darhk and Ruve Adams for their roles in the deaths of her parents; now that both halves of the evil power couple are dead, perhaps Evelyn will be more willing to fight on the straight and narrow.
The Artemis of DC comics was the daughter of two villains, and she ultimately became a member of the Injustice Society. She may be better known nowadays as the teen heroine who was a key member of the original team on Young Justice. Given what we've seen of Evelyn so far, and the fact that she doesn't need to seek vengeance anymore, she'll probably have more similarities to the Young Justice Artemis than DC comic lore Artemis.
Personally, I'm somewhat surprised that Arrow is bringing in yet another archer. The DC universe on The CW has introduced plenty of folks other than Oliver Queen carrying bows. In the current timeline, Thea, Roy, Malcolm Merlyn, Cupid, Nyssa, and plenty of currently jobless League of Assassins minions favor bows. Additionally, The Huntress uses a crossbow whenever she's not in prison. In the past, Yao Fei and Shado were expert archers, and a Legends of Tomorrow episode featured a Green Arrow 2.0 in Connor Hawke. So plenty of arrows have flown on Arrow that haven't come from the bow of leading man Oliver Queen.
Hopefully, Arrow will show Evelyn Sharp actually developing and earning the skills to become Artemis. One of the biggest missteps of the entire series was the way in which Arrow transformed Laurel from a lawyer who had taken boxing lessons to a vigilante who could leap out a window onto a ladder dangling from a helicopter in the span of only three episodes. As long as Madison McLaughlin's episodes are spread out over Season 5, there's no reason why she couldn't have a semi-believable origin story without taking too much focus away from the archer who is actually the star of the show.
Arrow is currently on hiatus until fall, so it'll be a while before we get to see Madison McLaughlin tackle the new role of Artemis as Evelyn Sharp. For a peek ahead at what's to come in Arrow Season 5, don't forget to check out our breakdown of what we know so far.
