Well, now, if anyone out there thought that the Arrow-verse could possibly say goodbye to its flagship drama without introducing a few more DC TV-related surprises in Season 8, that's just silly. If unofficial reports turn out to be correct, it sounds like Arrow's final season will be welcoming a long-anticipated addition in the form of Smallville vet Tom Welling. Sadly, there's some up-in-the-air-ness to all this.
Here's what happened. Tom Welling appeared at New Zealand's entertainment-infused Armageddon Expo, specifically at the Wellington event. There, he reportedly said these words just as a fan was getting set to ask him about an Arrow-verse appearance.
I will be on Arrow next season.
Clearly, that's the kind of news announcement that TV fans would go berserk over, seeing as how The CW shows have already brought in other actors from Smallville (not to mention other DC TV shows of yesteryear, such as Lois & Clark.) So if Tom Welling actually does turn out to have a presence on Arrow next season, it would be one of the more perfect gifts to grant fans on the way out.
However, there were conflicting opinions that came out of the very same panel, with some claiming that Tom Welling made the Arrow claim jokingly. At one point, he reportedly later said, "You know Arrow is cancelled, right?" which led some to believe that his earlier comment was made in jest. Which seems like the worst form of joking imaginable to present to that particular crowd of people.
Of course, it's also possible that after making the original comment, Tom Welling was given a heads up from his publicist that he shouldn't have been so open about the Arrow gig. So perhaps he tried to make a joke about it later to water down the first answer. (Or to wine down the answer, per Welling's vino-related efforts with Stephen Amell.)
One of the Expo's audience members took down the original tweet, and later stated that the Expo's terms and conditions forbid the account from posting any video form the panel where Tom Welling could be heard making his Arrow comment.
It's not like he just avoided talking about the Arrow-verse completely after that, though nothing could confirmed about any potential Arrow appearances. He did reportedly state that he directly turned down appearing on Supergirl, which is a very interesting declaration. Tom Welling had stated in the past that he'd never officially been offered anything.
What's more, it's stated that he specifically turned down the role of playing Superman for Supergirl, which likely means that offer would have come years ago, before Tyler Hoechlin got the part. That matches up with his prior claims about not exactly being gung-ho about dressing up as Superman following Smallville's series finale.
Of course, the Arrow-verse is currently heading for a Crisis of infinite proportions, and it's just such a world-widening ordeal that will readily welcome other versions of the multi-verse's mightiest heroes to come together. With Arrow aiming to bow out for good with a storyline that spans two timelines, there would be a lot of room to bring a new super-character into the picture at some point, presumably closer to the crossover.
Before we go off the rails while speculating about different versions of the Man of Steel, let's take a deep breath and wait to see if Tom Welling actually will be a Star City resident in 2019 or not. Fans who miss his face can always rewatch Lucifer Season 3 episodes.
While waiting, of course, Arrow will continue down the final stretch of Season 7 on The CW every Monday night at 9:00 p.m. ET.
