‘Arrow’ Season 7 Rumored to Bring Back Connor Hawke

Arrow‘s seventh season has taken its narrative into some brand new territory, and there’s a chance that that could involve a familiar face.

In a now-deleted Instagram post, Sea Shimooka, who plays Emiko Queen on the series, may have confirmed that Connor Hawke (Joseph David-Jones) is returning to the Arrowverse in some form or fashion. The photo, which you can see a screenshot of below, shows Shimooka and David-Jones alongside Arrow co-stars Colton Haynes and Andrea Sixtos.

As fans will remember, David-Jones played Connor in the Legends of Tomorrow episode “Star City 2046”, which saw the team traveling to a potential dystopian future for the Arrowverse. In that episode, Connor was revealed to be the older version of John Diggle Jr., the son of John Diggle (David Ramsey). While “JJ” was not a part of Arrow when that episode originally aired, the ramifications of Flashpoint essentially brought him into existence, making some fans wonder if “Star City 2046” was on its way to becoming Earth-1’s reality.

While this photo doesn’t serve as an official confirmation that Connor is appearing in Arrow‘s seventh season, that certainly hasn’t stopped fans from drawing their own conclusions. The fact that David-Jones is alongside Haynes and Sixtos – whose roles are entirely in Arrow‘s flash-forwards this season – certainly could hint at him appearing in some way.

Of course, Connor Hawke potentially returning for Arrow‘s flash-forwards opens a whole other can of worms, as those involved with the show have hinted that the Season 7 scenes are paving their own ground (despite evidence that seems to suggest otherwise).

“This is not connected to Legends,” Arrow showrunner Beth Schwartz said earlier this year. “This is our own future.”

But even as Arrow‘s flash-forwards seem to look more and more like “Star City 2046”, the notion of Connor returning to the show’s storyline is certainly interesting, considering the continued focus on the Green Arrow’s legacy. While it’s unclear exactly what the future holds for Oliver Queen (Stephen Amell) – especially as “Crisis on Infinite Earths” looms ahead – the notion that Connor could still be around in the future might mean interesting things for the Green Arrow’s mantle.

“The only thing that is left for him to do – and he doesn’t need to die to do this – is he needs to leave a legacy.” Amell said earlier this year. “Because we have all these other shows that exist. So whether Arrow continued on in the absence of Oliver Queen, or someone else took up the mantle of the Green Arrow… I think leaving a legacy is the last box left to tick for the character.”

Arrow will return with new episodes on January 21st at 8/7c on The CW.