Who on Arrow survived the island explosion? The show’s panel at this year’s San Diego Comic Con was light on answers and heavy on teasing.
Like many of its characters, Arrow faces an uncertain future. The CW superhero show finished its original narrative arc last season, as Oliver came to terms with his violent past. Unfortunately, that resolution involved still more violence. Just when Oliver thought he’d triumphed, Adrian Chase committed suicide, activating a kill switch that blew up the island of Lian Yu—along with the rest of Team Arrow.
Or so it appeared. Showrunners Marc Guggenheim and Wendy Mericle had an opportunity to clear up the ambiguity during the Arrow panel at San Diego Comic Con on Saturday. Instead, they kept their cards close to the vest, doling out only vague scraps of information.
They did, however, present a trailer for season 6. Check it out below:
As you can see, more than half of the three-minute clip consists of snippets from season 5. But the part that does contain new footage looks pretty intriguing. The focus on action isn’t a surprise considering stunt coordinator James Bamford will direct the season premiere.
Conspicuously, the trailer omits major characters like Felicity and Diggle. We glimpse Juliana Harkavy as Dinah Drake/Black Canary, now fully suited up, as well as Katie Cassidy as Black Siren, though their returns were already confirmed. A bigger revelation is Manu Bennett’s Slade Wilson, who figures prominently. “We walk in two worlds,” he says cryptically. “We can only do that for so long.” Does that mean he gets a full redemption arc? Regardless, the prospect of Slade-centric episodes is exciting.
Now that Oliver’s origin story is over, we hope Arrow delves deeper into other characters. Of course, that would require them to be alive. Nearly all the central cast members, from Emily Bett Rickards to Echo Kellum, attended the panel, which suggests their characters aren’t dead. But they could only appear in the premiere, which includes flashbacks to the explosion’s immediate aftermath.
We’re especially worried about Nyssa. Katrina Law was absent at SDCC, and she only ever had a recurring role. But the show can’t eliminate her without giving us Nyssa/Sara flashbacks, right?
In other news, Lost alum Michael Emerson is part of the Arrowverse. Although his character’s identity remains secret, EW writer Natalie Abrams’s guess that he plays Cayden James seems plausible. The Helix founder appeared in the season 5 episode “Dangerous Liaisons”, but a hood concealed his face. If Abrams is correct, it would be a sly nod to Emerson’s role on CBS’s tech procedural Person of Interest.
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Arrow returns to The CW on October 12.