The last fans saw of John Diggle on Arrow, he’d found a mysterious box in the debris of meteor crash and that box had a bright green glow — a tantalizing tease that fans hoped meant Diggle would finally become a Green Lantern. Now with Diggle actor David Ramsey appearing in five total episodes across the Arrowverse this season, fans might be getting some resolution to the question of what was in that box. The Flash showrunner Eric Wallace told TVLine that the weight of that Arrow moment will be a factor in the character’s appearance in The Flash Season 7.
Videos by ComicBook.com
“When we last saw Diggle, he had a situation at the end of Arrow that he needed to deal with,” Wallace said. “So, he arrives to help Team Flash in the back half of the season carrying the weight of that problem. And the question is how can he help Team Flash when he’s got something even bigger on his mind? And that’s where the story is.”
The idea of Diggle becoming a Green Lantern is something that fans have long wanted and indeed, the Arrowverse has laid the groundwork for it. In addition to the tease during Arrow‘s finale, the series also established connections to the Stewart family — Diggle’s stepfather’s name is Roy Stewart — and 2018’s Elseworlds crossover saw The Flash of Earth-90 (John Wesley Shipp) remark that John wasn’t “wearing his ring”.
“It was something that the fans sort of put on David’s radar and David really embraced it,” Arrow producer Marc Guggenheim previously told ComicBook.com. “And we love David. And obviously, I have great affection for the Green Lantern character and the Green Lantern franchise. But for sure, this was something that the fans manifested into existence.”
While it sounds like Ramsey’s appearance on The Flash might not fully answer the Green Lantern question, many fans are hopeful that the actor’s appearance on DC’s Legends of Tomorrow might. Ramsey is set to appear on that series as a “mystery character” and if that character is Green Lantern it would be perfectly timed. The Season 5 finale of DC’s Legends of Tomorrow saw Sara Lance (Caity Lotz) abducted by what appeared to be aliens, something that might just see the Legends need some help from Green Lantern to rectify.
The Flash returns for Season 7 on Tuesday, March 2nd at 8/7c on The CW.