Arrow star David Ramsey has teased the future of his character John Diggle and his "cosmic destiny" within DC's Arrowverse ahead of his most recent appearance on The Flash. Ramsey was a member of the Arrow cast from the very beginning all the way back in 2012. with his character John Diggle serving as Oliver Queen's bodyguard and eventual close confidant throughout the series' long history. He eventually took up the moniker of Spartan on the show and even took over the mantle of Green Arrow when Oliver was briefly forced to retire from the role. Since the show's conclusion in 2020, the actor has remained a fixture within the Arrowverse, reprising his role as Diggle in numerous other shows including Batwoman, Legends of Tomorrow, and The Flash.
Diggle was last seen on Arrow opening a mysterious, glowing green box that crashed right in front of him during the series finale. Fans have long speculated that Diggle could be a thinly-veiled version of DC Comics character John Stewart, aka Green Lantern. In the comics, Stewart became a Green Lantern after Hal Jordan retired from the role and has been a member of the Green Lantern Corps since. There is a long history between Green Arrow and Green Lantern -the Hal Jordan version of the character at least- within DC Comics, with the pair starring in a comic book together throughout the 1970s. The closeness between Diggle and Oliver throughout Arrow obviously led many to speculate about the true nature of Ramsey's character, and the ending of Arrow appeared to tease this eventual revelation. These speculations have been furthered by Diggle's recent appearances on other Arrowverse shows all season. hinting at a big reveal.
In a recent interview with ComicBook.com ahead of the July 6th episode of The Flash -in which Diggle was set to appear- Ramsey opened up about the nature of the character's recent appearances and what the future may hold. Most notably, he appeared to suggest that the long-held speculations about the character may not be entirely misplaced. He said that whatever offer was related to the box at the end of Arrow was rejected by Diggle, but there are consequences related to this decision. You can read the full quote from Ramsey below:
"Obviously he has the deepest history with Flash because he knows all the characters on Flash. So, every time he appears on these shows, he fits within the storytelling of that specific episode … But he's kind of hiding something in his back pocket. And we started telling that on Batwoman. They kind of have these headaches that he's kind of there to see a doctor. Ultimately, what he saw in the box, he declined the invitation to. That decision has consequences. And we start telling ultimately, his cosmic destiny if you will, his kind of galactic destiny if you will. We begin to tell the consequences of denying that through this kind of crossover that we're doing."
It will be interesting to see what exactly these consequences will be for Diggle, but Ramsey's reference to a "cosmic" and "galactic destiny" very much implies that the character may very well indeed be finally taking on the role of a Green Lantern within the Arrowverse. With the sheer number of DC Comics characters who have appeared within the Arrowverse in some form of another, it's surprising that a member of the Green Lantern Corps hasn't fully appeared - aside from brief cameos during the Crisis on Infinite Earths crossover and teases for Stargirl season 2. It seems however that the showrunners may have been holding back for a big reveal regarding Diggle, and that this revelation may be coming at some point soon however, likely in The Flash, considering the magnitude of the Godspeed war.
It's worth noting as well that Diggle is adopted and that his birth-parents have never been named. It's not outside the realm of possibility that their last name could be Stewart, allowing Ramsey's character to evolve into the much-beloved character that fans of longed to see. We will just have to wait and see what is in store for the character in future episodes of The Flash, or when Ramsey takes his character to Superman & Lois on July 13th.
Source: Comicbook.com