Fan favorite actor John Barrowman will be returning to Arrow full time next season.
Arrow star Stephen Amell tweeted the news from the CW Upfront this morning:
#Arrow has a new series regular. @Team_Barrowman —
What could go wrong?!?! pic.twitter.com/VgFQdQhKNq
— Stephen Amell (@amellywood) May 15, 2014
TVLine confirmed the news. Barrowman, who plays Dark Archer Malcolm Merlyn, says he is “excited to explore what is yet to come between Malcolm and Thea” as well as “what’s yet to come between Oliver and Malcolm, and all of the rest of them.”
Malcolm, the father of Oliver’s late best friend Tommy, was the Arrow’s chief antagonist in season 1. He was supposedly killed but returned in season 2 to secure Moira’s acquittal in her trial for her part in the Undertaking.
It was revealed that Moira and Malcolm had a brief affair. With the death of Tommy, Malcolm wanted to claim Thea has his daughter. Though Moira was able to hold him off, her death brought him back to town. With Moira’s death, Thea is the only one aware that Malcolm is alive.
In the season 2 finale, “Unthinkable,” Thea decided to leave town with her father after being burned by the lies of Moira, Oliver, and Roy.
We can assume this means the father/daughter adventures of the League of Assassins-trained Malcolm and Thea will play a large part in Arrow season 3. With Moira’s death, Slade’s incarceration, and Sara’s exit with Nyssa al Ghul, it isn’t surprising to see the Arrow cast starting to fill out again.