It seems that once you are a part of team Arrow, you are always a part of team Arrow. Colton Haynes will be returning to Arrow in season 4 to reprise his role as Roy Harper, a.k.a. Arsenal. On Friday, Haynes tweeted “Just landed in Vancouver to… BEGIN FILMING ON ARROW AGAIN!!! So excited!!!”
And he’s not the only one excessively using exclamation points. Ever since Haynes’s character left the show in season 3, fans have wondered if and when he might return. Haynes left the show last season after his character faked his own death and skipped town in order to protect Oliver Queen (Stephen Amell) from being outed as Starling City’s vigilante, the Arrow. After Queen was arrested for capering around Starling City in a green hood, Harper donned the Arrow costume long enough to convince the police Queen was innocent. In order to escape prison, Harper staged his own death, convincing the police, and his girlfriend, Thea Queen (Willa Holland), that he was truly gone. After Thea found out Harper was still alive, she tracked him down but was unable to convince him to return with her. Instead, Harper passed his Arsenal costume to Thea and told her to find her own path. And magically the outfit fit.
In the comics, Roy Harper’s alter ego was Speedy, the Green Arrow’s sidekick who later became the Red Arrow in some versions of the mythology. Arrow has taken several liberties when it comes to following the original Green Arrow story, one such being renaming the archer’s sidekick as Arsenal.
Arrow executive producer Marc Geggenheim tells Entertainment Weekly, “We are beyond thrilled that Colton will be returning to Arrow this season. It was always our intention to have him return following his departure last season, but it was a matter of finding the right story line to pull it off. That opportunity presented itself in episode 412 and we can’t wait for the fans to see this reunion.” It sounds like there will be definitely something big bringing Harper back to his hometown, and it will be interesting to see how his return affects team Arrow.
With Thea taking up the mantel as Speedy and replacing Harper, Green Arrow isn’t really in the market for another sidekick. Despite the show veering away from the comics, we can’t help but wonder just a little if Harper will return as the Red Arrow rather than Arsenal. And, of course, Harper’s return to the newly renamed Star City will undoubtedly bring up unresolved feelings between him and Thea.
While the CW hasn’t released all the details, at least we know we don’t have to wait too much longer to see Haynes’s return to Arrow.