'Arrow' Casts the Longbow Hunters for Season 7

Arrow's season six finale introduced the Longbow Hunters as Ricardo Diaz's new associates and now at The CW show's San Diego Comic-Con panel fans found out exactly who is making up the new villainous team.

During the panel it was revealed that Red Dart, Kodiak, and The Silencer will be joining Ricardo Diaz (Kirk Acevedo) in terrorizing Star City while Oliver Queen (Stephen Amell) spends time behind bars at Slabside Maximum Security Prison for crimes committed as Green Arrow. While each of the announced characters have DC Comics ties, only one of them is commonly associated with the Longbow Hunter team.

Red Dart, who will be played by Holly Elissa, first appeared as a member of the team in Green Arrow (Vol 5) #31 in 2014. The character, whose real name is unknown, is known for her use of trick darts and was part of The Longbow Hunters in comics.

Kodiak, played by Michael Jonsson, was the leader of Shield Clan, one of the eight Clans of The Outsiders. In comics, he had something called the Shield Totem, which granted its owner immortality and true enlightenment. Joining Kodiak and Red Dart, The Silence will be played by Miranda Edwards. In comics, The Silencer, aka Honor Guest, was Talia al Ghul's most trusted assassin. The association may be a hint that Diaz could have ties with Talia on Arrow as well, which could provide an opening for the return of Colton Haynes' Roy Harper.

As fans of the show may recall, Talia last appeared on Arrow during the season five finale on Lian Yu where she had sided with Adrian Chase. While her fate was left unknown following the island's explosion, last season during the episode "The Thanatos Guild" it was revealed that there are three previously unknown Lazarus Pits that former members of the League of Assasins had been trying to track down. If The Silencer has ties to Talia as she did in comics, it wouldn't be impossible that she has crossed paths with Roy, who left with Thea Queen (Willa Holland) to find and destroy those Lazarus Pits.

Exactly how The Longbow Hunters will factor in the upcoming season remains to be seen, but one thing that fans can expect is that the show will be facing a major shift, something that series star Stephen Amell is on board with.

"I think that's one of the things I'm getting out of what they've planned for season seven – we're not writing like we're guaranteed something beyond this, because we're not; nobody is." Amell said in a recent interview. "I want them to really push forward and take the fact we have a certain license and a certain respect from the fans to take some chances."

Are you excited to see what happens in Arrow's seventh season? Let us know what you think in the comments below.

Arrow will return with new episodes on Monday, October 15th, at 8/7c on The CW.