Ahead of San Diego Comic-Con last month, it was announced that Colin Donnell would be returning for Arrow‘s final season. Donnell has been a fan favorite since he first appeared in the show’s first season as Oliver Queen’s best friend Tommy Merlyn. However, Tommy died during the first season finale and executive producer Marc Guggenheim has even noted that Donnell won’t be back as the Tommy fans know, but according to series star Stephen Amell, there’s still a way Tommy can exist.
During Arrow‘s presentation at the Television Critics Association press tour on Sunday, Amell teased that Donnell’s Tommy Merlyn could still exist, just on another Earth.
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“It’s definitely possible on an Earth,” Amell teased.
For fans of Arrow, the idea of Tommy from another Earth is one that has been touched on before in the Arrowverse. The Nazi Earth-X version of Tommy appeared in the “Crisis on Earth-X” crossover, captured on Earth-1 and held captive in S.T.A.R. Labs before killing himself via cyanide pill. Given that the coming “Crisis on Infinite Earths” will see the Multiverse in grave danger, it wouldn’t be too much of a stretch to consider that Oliver along with The Monitor (LaMonica Garrett) may end up trying to save another Earth, one in which that Tommy Merlyn is alive and well.
It’s the “alive and well” part of things that fans want the most for Tommy, and Donnell teased last week that when it comes to the character’s return on Arrow, may be getting what they want.
“I think that Stephen said it best at Comic-Con,” Donnell said. “I think fans are going to see Tommy in a way that they’ve maybe wanted for a while.”
Of course, it might not be on another Earth where fans get to see Tommy. The season premiere is entitled “Starling City”. As fans of the show will remember, Arrow‘s central location was known as Starling City for the first three seasons, eventually being renamed as Star City after the apparent death of Ray Palmer (Brandon Routh). With all of that in mind, there’s no telling exactly what this title could be a reference to. We’ve also seen glimpses of Queen Mansion and know that Susanna Thompson will also be returning to reprise her role as Oliver’s mother, Moira Queen. It’s possible that we could be getting a flashback of sorts in the season premiere, though an alternate Earth is equally as likely.
“It’s a love letter to the show; it really is,” Arrow executive producer and “Crisis on Infinite Earths” showrunner Marc Guggenheim told Green Arrow TV. “I was telling Beth [Schwartz], it felt a lot like the series finale, not the season premiere, in the best possible way, almost to the point where we’re like ‘what are we going to do for the series finale?’ I mean, we know, obviously, but it has that kind of resonance to it, and that’s exciting.”
Arrow‘s eighth and final season will premiere on October 15, 2019 on The CW.
Additional reporting by Scott Huver.
