It’s been two years since Arrow ended its run on The CW and now Colton Haynes is opening up about why he departed the popular DC-inspired superhero series. Haynes played Roy Harper/Arsenal on Arrow and while the actor left the series initially in Season 3, he returned as a series regular in Season 7 only to depart once again, appearing in only a few episodes of the final season. Now, Haynes reveals that his second departure stemmed from not being able to stand a fellow cast member.
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The first time Haynes departed the series, it was for mental and physical health reasons, but the second departure was much different. In his new memoir Miss Memory Lane (via Screen Rant) Haynes revealed that while it was reported that it was his contract that saw him leave Arrow the second time, it was actually issues with one specific Arrow cast member, though he didn’t elaborate on who that cast member was.
“I had walked away from my full-time job on Arrow at the beginning of the year, supposedly because my contract had ended,” Haynes wrote. “But it was really because I was too depressed, and I couldn’t stand working with one of my cast mates.”
Season 7 of Arrow saw most of Haynes’ role as Roy set in the future timeline, playing an older version of the character dealing with Oliver Queen’s (Stephen Amell) children, Mia Smoak-Queen (Katherine McNamara) and William Clayton (Ben Lewis). When the character wasn’t seen as part of the future storyline, Roy was also back in Star City in the present helping Team Arrow battle the Ninth Circle, and Oliver’s half-sister, Emiko (Sea Shimooka), though after defeating Emiko, Roy leaves the city to atone for killing two people. Ahead of his return for that season, Haynes described Roy’s story as “a crazy storyline”.
“You guys have no idea what’s happening with Roy Harper.” Haynes revealed. “It’s a crazy storyline, I can say. It’s nothing like he’s been before. It’s going to shock [so many people]. I’m shocked right now. It’s going to shock a lot of people. Roy’s not the same person. I can’t say much, but we’re returning back to our roots on the show. Not the characters, but the show — We’re going back to how we were a couple of seasons ago. But it’s going to just be so good. Beth Schwartz, our new show runner, is just — She’s a dream. She’s changing everything and she’s making everything the way I think the show was at the beginning.”
While Haynes did depart as a series regular after Season 7, he also returned for a few episodes in the final season, his last appearance being in the series finale where he and Thea Queen (Willa Holland) get engaged. He has not appeared in any other Arrowverse series since. As for what Haynes is doing now, the actor is set to appear in Paramount+’s Teen Wolf: The Movie, with Haynes reprising his role as Colton Whittemore.
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