Arrow Season 4: Five Things We Learned From Comic Con

While the season hadn't started shooting yet, that didn't stop Arrow from having a pretty big presence, and dropping plenty of hints about the upcoming season, at Comic-Con International: San Diego last weekend.

There were casting announcements, character additions and more.

So...what did we learn last weekend about the forthcoming, fourth season of Arrow? Read on...

Anarky rules!

Anarky, a character most closely associated with Norm Breyfogle's time on the Batman titles, will come to Arrow this season.

Lonnie Machin (AKA Anarky) is a deranged freelancing criminal who is willing to do whatever it takes to impress a potential employer. If his history with Robin is any indication, he might create a real problem for a certain young sidekick who has recently taken up the mantle of Speedy.

Green Arrow rises

The new costume and new status quo are apparenty joined by a name-change, as Oliver Queen is the Green Arrow, as announced by Stephen Amell at Comic-Con and then later reinforced by the season premiere title page.

And this one hasn't really been followed up on, but when Stephen Amell took to the stage at Comic Con International: San Diego, he told fans that his character would be protecting "Star City," reinforcing afterwards that yes, he had said Star.

That's of course the name in the comics -- or it was until the success of the TV series caused a change in the New 52's relaunched continuity and we got Starling. It's also the name Brandon Routh's Ray Palmer wanted to sell to civic leaders in Season Three -- although we really only heard about that once or twice before it appeared to be dropped while Ray focused on becoming The Atom.

Apparently that campaign is still alive and well...although interviews with creators who keep referring to the place as "Starling" makes it unclear just when and if Amell's hinted-at change will happen.

Team Arrow is a "well-oiled machine" without Arrow

While Damien Darhk and company present a challenge so big, they can't do it without Oliver, Team Arrow will be a "well-oiiled crimefighting machine" without the Arrow himself, according to David Ramey, who plays Diggle.

This isn't your father's Mr. Terrific

When Echo Kellum joins the cast as Mr. Terrific, the character will be reinvented somewhat, with his name being Curtis Holt (the most popular iteration in recent comics has been Michael Holt). In the comics, Michael Holt becomes Mr. Terrific after the death of his pregnant wife, so it may be interesting to see whether Michael could be Curtis' father in this version of the mythology.

Being a new character presumably allows the writers to give him whatever backstory they want, but part of it will be that Curtis is a homosexual. There's been no indication how or if this will play into any of his larger character arcs.

He'll be working under Felicity Smoak at Palmer Technologies by day and playing superhero by night, according to his casting announcement. Olicity shippers can probably breathe a deep sigh of relief knowing that while she may be working closely with somebody who has a hidden life as a superhero (just like Oliver and Ray Palmer), it's very unlikely that she'll explore a relationship with him this time.

A.R.G.U.S. lives on

When Deadshot was taken off the board and Amanda Waller's role reduced, it seemed as though the Suicide Squad movie had stripped Arrow of its tied to A.R.G.U.S., the super-spy agency where Diggle's wife Lyla Michaels works and out of which the Squad is headquartere.

Fear not, fans of those stories: It seems as though A.R.G.U.S. will continue to be a big part of the storyline for Diggle and Lyla.

How does that reconcile with last season's decision to leave the agency? We'll have to wait and find out when the show comes back in October.