Not too many episodes are left before Arrow comes to an end, and a lot of the eighth and final season could be spent building to the epic "Crisis on Infinite Earths" crossover. Fans already knew that Emily Bett Rickards was out for Season 8 as Felicity Smoak, but what of Colton Haynes as Roy Harper? He has dropped in and out over the years since his Season 1 debut, and Roy was still alive at the end of Season 7.
Well, a recent report stated that Colton Haynes is no longer a series regular heading into Season 8, and Haynes himself took to social media to clarify what was happening. He posted this:
Colton Haynes, who spent most of his stint as a series regular in Season 7 wearing old age makeup to play flash-forward Roy, addressed the report that he was out for Season 8. Apparently, he wasn't asked by producers to return for the eighth season, but Haynes was specific in his tweet that he wasn't returned a "a series regular."
The whole tone and phrasing of the post (plus those emojis) suggests that although Roy won't be around as much as he was in Season 7, he could very well still have a part to play. Colton Haynes certainly isn't wrong that Roy has a knack for coming back, and the actor seems very willing to reprise the role.
Roy wasn't stopped by the Mirakuru dose in Season 2, he returned after he outed himself as the Green Arrow in Oliver's place and then faked his death in Season 3, came back again, died off-screen, was resurrected via Lazarus Pit, then came back again in Season 7, in both the present and the future timelines. Just imagine if Roy hadn't decided to steal Thea's purse all those years ago!
But will Colton Haynes get the call to reprise the role in the final season? Arrow has a lot to do in a limited number of episodes, and the show is already bringing back two former stars despite their characters' deaths.
Will there be room for Roy when there's so much to do, not to mention "Crisis" coming up? It's too soon to say, but showrunner Beth Schwartz's comments to Green Arrow TV are certainly promising:
We hope to have him back. We love him and he’s obviously one of the foundations of the show.
That Beth Schwartz hopes to bring Colton Haynes back is certainly a positive sign, and surely there are ways to write Roy into stories, even with the limited number of episodes! He doesn't need to have a Roy-centric story.
And hey, as long as I'm wishing for things, why not bring him back along with Thea and Nyssa before the final credits role on the finale? Marc Guggenheim never said that Willa Holland would never ever return to Arrow, and it would make sense for Katrina Law to appear considering Nyssa has a hand in training Mia. She could communicate with Oliver. Besides, Thea, Nyssa, and Roy were together for their missions to take down the Lazarus Pits.
Only time will tell who gets the chance to come back and who doesn't in the final season of Arrow. Emily Bett Rickards seemingly shot down returning as Felicity, so it's possible that the Season 7 farewell to Felicity was truly the series farewell to Felicity. The final season of Arrow premieres this fall, along with another long-running CW series coming to an end and a whole lot of other shows.
