Arrow: Easter Eggs and DC Comics References In "The Return"

Tonight's episode of Arrow was a prequel to Season One, with plenty of guest stars, mostly dead characters, and views into storylines that dominated the show's first season.

That makes an "Easter eggs" post difficult; what this episode really needs is a viewing companion, to help keep track of the various bits of continuity that were played with here. 

I'm not going to do big story things here, like Thea's substance abuse problems, Oliver's acquisition of the files, a list of cameos, etc. Those are things that we'll look at in a little more depth tomorrow, if there's demand in the comments, but they frankly aren't Easter eggs or references, just a sign of an elaborate continuity.

So...what did we see? What did we miss? Read on...!

Peter Kang

There's basically no chance there's any connection here, but since I can't find any reference to Peter Kang, I'll just carelessly suggest that he's in some way connected to Great Ten member Zou Kang.

Andy Diggle

Diggle's brother Andy makes his first onscreen appearance (although we have seen him in one of the original Arrow comic books during Season One). Played by Eugene Byrd, an actor fans might remeber from Bones, the character is named for the Green Arrow: Year One comic book writer of the same name.

Byrd appeared in Anacondas: The Hunt for the Blood Orchid with Karl Yune, who plays Maseo in the episode.

One other prisoner

"Where's Captain Boomerang?" plenty of fans asked when it was revealed that Slade's battle with Oliver and Thea would take place on Lian Yu. Well, we got our answer: still right where he's supposed to be, since apparently Slade didn't want to take the risk of freeing him and ending up competing with Digger Harkness for resources.

Proto-Arrow

Ah, the voice, the hood, all that good stuff...all on display in Starling City ages before Oliver would ever affect the Arrow persona and even commented-upon by a cop who suggests that the death of Jordan the drug dealer is the result of a vigilante.

No more Oliver Queen

"How many people can Oliver Queen lose before there is no more Oliver Queen?"

That's a fair enough question from Slade, and one that has been haunting Oliver all season long.

Black Canary

Lance may have inadvertently named his daughter with his snarky comments...

LordOfTheDrums said ... (original post)

Was tonight the first official namedrop of "Black Canary?" I know Sara had been referred to as simply "Canary" during season 2.

Matthew Shrieve

Marc Singer joined the cast today as General Shrieve, better known as Lt. Matthew Shrieve, an obscure DC Comics character created by J.M. DeMatteis and Pat Broderick.

Singer, who also appeared in The Beastmaster, will be a recurring character who will play a major role in the flashbacks.

In the comics, Shrieve is an American soldier involved with Project M and the leader of the Creature Commandos, an elite combat unit composed of soldiers with monster-like features. He himself, though, has no powers and appears to be an ordinary human. In the New 52 reboot, the Creature Commandos are agents of S.H.A.D.E., an organization that has sometimes found itself in competition with A.R.G.U.S. for dominance in the metahuman-espionage community.

Since the reboot, we haven't seen Shrieve, with his role as field commander being filled by Frankenstein.

In the alternate universe created during the Flashpoint crisis, Shrieve's granddaughter Miranda, a monster hunter, was introduced and appeared in the Frankenstein and the Creature Commandos miniseries.