Arrow Upgrades John Barrowman To Series Regular For Season Three

According to series star Stephen Amell, The CW's Arrow has promoted Torchwood star John Barrowman to series regular next year. The star, who plays Malcolm Merlyn, the show's Season One villain, appeared in the last two episodes of Season Two and left at the end of last night's episode with Thea. He's been a recurring guest star throughout the series so far, with a few episodes in each season. His major plot this season was the revelation that he had an affair with Moira Queen years ago, resulting in the birth of Thea -- a truth even Merlyn didn't know until this year. He was briefly held at bay with the threat of being turned in to Ra's al Ghul (as he's exiled fro the League of Assassins) but that threat ended when Moira died, and Merlyn returned. "You can't keep a good bad guy down," Barrowman told TVLine on the red carpet at today's upfront presentation for The CW. He said he's "excited to explore what is yet to come between Malcolm and [daughter] Thea and also what's yet to come between Oliver and Malcolm, and all of the rest of them." The CW hasn't said anything specific about Barrowman's role next year yet, but it's probably safe to assume the story teased last night will provide him with a prominent subplot -- especially as he'll likely spend most of his screen time with another actor who's been a series regular since the pilot.

#Arrow has a new series regular. @Team_Barrowman -- What could go wrong?!?! pic.twitter.com/VgFQdQhKNq — Stephen Amell (@amellywood) May 15, 2014