With “Arrow” in the midst of its eighth and final season, fans have been promised plenty of surprises as the DC Comics series wraps up.
On Friday, star Stephen Amell took to social media to announce that former co-star Emily Bett Rickards will be returning for the series finale to reprise the role of fan-favourite Felicity Smoak.
“There’ll be a lot of news coming out about our final episode over the next few months,” wrote Amell in a Twitter post, accompanied by a GIF of Rickards in character as Felicity, a.k.a. Overwatch.
“I prefer when you hear it from us,” Amell continued, hinting that spoilers were likely to emerge about the involvement of the Vancouver-born actress, who exited the show at the end of the seventh season. “Welcome back Emily.”
Rickards’ return is big news for fans, with her character’s dramatic departure setting the stage for the swan-song season.
“I think that the show, as people have understood it and its structure I think it ended in our season-seven finale,” Amell said during a session at the Television Critics Association summer press tour. “This year is fundamentally different. The episodes are events. And, to me, the show, as we constructed it, ended when Emily left.”
During the same session, “Arrow” showrunner Beth Schwartz hinted that fans could expect to see many of their favourite characters from past seasons return.
“We have a lot of guest cast coming back,” she said, adding, “I mean, the whole season is basically our greatest hits.”
Meanwhile, fan reaction on Twitter to Amell’s news return has been through the roof.
