'Arrow' Has a Huge Name Drop Coming Up

A big, exciting name-drop is coming on up on Arrow, according to series star Stephen Amell.

A week after someone dropped the bomb that Oliver is the Green Arrow on TV news, the show returns on Thursday and will waste no time having a little bit of fun, as a big name is dropped in the opening moments of the episode, as the Star City mayor tries to handle damage control.

"I come in and talk with the reporters, and one of the things that I'm enjoying doing as mayor this year, and Oliver as a character to a certain extent, is I've tried to up the charm factor a little bit," Amell told EW. "He should be a little more comfortable in his shoes as a public figure. He steps in and deals with the press in a very, very relaxed way. Quentin says to him, 'You seem pretty good with this,' and Oliver's like, 'I've been here before.' In that scene, we get to do the coolest name drop that we've ever done on the show, which I was really fired up about."

The obvious assumption -- and the one most fans are running with on social media -- is that the name-drop is of a DC superhero, especially given the trailer for the episode, in which Oliver uses the phrase "superhero" and insists he is not one.

A complication there is that whenever a character is referenced on one of the Arrowverse shows, the next obvious question becomes when fans will see him or her. The furor for Superman before he showed up on Supergirl was non-stop, and The Flash's premiere featuring a Batman Easter egg set fans off on wild goose chases looking for Dark Knight Easter eggs for about a year.

Of course, there are no shortage of pop culture and political references on Arrow and its sister shows, so the name-drop could easily be something else.

Arrow airs on Thursday nights at 9 p.m. ET/PT on The CW.