The first series in The CW's ever-expanding DC universe, Arrow, will return to the network for its fifth season on October 5th. While the series has had its ups and downs the last few years, anticipation is relatively high for the upcoming season. Not only will Arrow be part of a massive crossover with characters from Supergirl (now on The CW), The Flash, and Legends of Tomorrow, but the series will be affected by "Flashpoint," and will also be introducing a crop of new vigilantes. Further, after fans' mixed response to the mystical elements last year, the showrunners have pledged that this season will be more grounded and in line with the tone of previous seasons.
But there is another reason to be excited about this upcoming season. The eighth episode of the season will be Arrow's 100th - no small milestone. It is not unusual for series to try and go above and beyond for a milestone episode. And now we may have a small tease at what to expect in Arrow's big 100th.
Arrow executive producer Marc Guggenheim recently tweeted out a picture of the table read for the 100th episode, and there is an actor present who you might not expect.
Arrow 100th Episode Table Read. No Flashpoint. No flashbacks. pic.twitter.com/bs4KXiPVNx— Marc Guggenheim (@mguggenheim) September 23, 2016
Sat between Stephen Amell (who plays Oliver Queen) and Blindspot's Joe Dinicol (who will be playing Ragman) is Jamey Sheridan, who you may remember played Oliver's father, Robert Queen, in season 1. Now before you get excited that this may have to do with "Flashpoint," either bringing Robert back to life, or perhaps having him fill the role of Thomas Wayne and take over as Green Arrow, Guggenheim explicitly says, "No Flashpoint. No Flashbacks." So what does it all mean?
There are a few possibilities as to why we may see Robert Queen in season 5. If we are indeed not going to be seeing him in a flashback or as a part of "Flashpoint" (which should be concluded by episode 8 anyway), it is possible that we may be seeing Earth-2 Robert Queen. You may recall from a season 2 episode of The Flash, the Earth-2 Green Arrow is not Oliver, but his father, Robert. Could we possibly be making a visit to Earth-2?
Another possibility is that we will be seeing some sort of video that Robert Queen shot in the past - though not in a flashback. Regardless, it certainly looks like we will be getting a small Queen family reunion, with Oliver, Robert, and Thea present at the table read. All we're missing is Susanna Thompson's Moira Queen.
The Flash season 3 will premiere Tuesday October 4 at 8pm on The CW, Arrow season 5 will premiere in the same timeslot on Wednesday October 5, Supergirl season 2 on Monday October 10, and Legends of Tomorrow season 2 on Thursday October 13.
Source: Marc Guggenheim