Paul Blackthorne Breaks Silence On Arrow Final Season Return

As the cornerstone of The CW‘s DC superhero shows comes to a conclusion, the producers behind Arrow are doing their best to get the band back together. Arrow will officially wrap up its eighth and final season next year and a ton of former cast members will be returning for the swan song. Yesterday it was revealed that none other than Paul Blackthorne will return as Quentin Lance for the show’s final season, a puzzling addition to fans of the series given the character’s final appearance in the series’ sixth season finale.

Following the news of his return, Blackthorne took to Twitter to react to the news of his return, saying: “Delighted to be popping back for a spot of #Arrow …. A pleasure and a privilege!” It remains to be seen just how Blackthorne’s Quentin Lance will return for the series’ final season, having previously departed the series at the end of the sixth season. In that fateful episode, the character leaped in front of a bullet to save the life of his daughter’s doppleganger, ending his tenure on the series after over 100 episodes which began with the pilot in 2012.

Paul Blackthorne as Quentin Lance isn’t the only familiar face that previously perished on Arrow that will be making a return for the final season. He’ll be joined by other characters that have passed away in the show’s context including Byron Mann as Yao Fei Gulong (Oliver’s original mentor on the island in the first season), Susanna Thompson as Oliver’s mother Moira Queen, and Colin Donnell as Oliver’s former best friend Tommy Merlyn, plus previously killed off antagonists like John Barrowman as Malcolm Merlyn and Josh Segarra as Adrian Chase.

Even more characters that departed the series while still drawing breath will also return including Willa Holland as Oliver’s sister Thea Queen, Colton Haynes as Roy Harper, Rila Fukushima as Tatsu Yamashiro aka Katana, plus Lexa Doig as Talia al Ghul, and most importantly Emily Bett Rickards as Felicity Smoak. When Rickards return was confirmed, executive producer Mark Guggenheim took to social media to reveal that details on the returning cast members will become clear in the coming weeks.

“We couldn’t be happier or more thrilled,” Guggenheim tweeted. “No other way to do our finale. You’ll find out about more old friends returning in the coming weeks…”

In addition to popular Arrow characters coming back into the mix, The CW is bringing hordes of popular DC actors into the Arrowverse to reprise their roles in the “Crisis on Infinite Earths” crossover event later in the year. That event will lead directly into the finale of Arrow.

Are you looking forward to the return of Quentin Lance on Arrow this season? How do you think they’ll bring him back? Sound off in the comments below!