Last night, the hit CW show Arrow returned for its third season premiere. Having now wrapped up an epic story arc that spanned the program’s first two seasons, this year of Arrow promises new storylines, new villains and big changes for Starling City and its resident hooded archer. And while the show’s creative team has already announced several exciting additions to the season, including Brandon Routh’s The Atom and the casting of fan-favorite villains Ra’s al Ghul, Komodo and Cupid, there remain a few choice characters and plotlines that the show has yet to introduce or further develop.
So, without further delay, here are some things fans can hope for in the coming year.
10. Brick’s Return
In the first season, Daniel “Brick” Brickwell appeared as a name on Oliver’s “vengeance” list. Unfortunately, the infamous gang lord didn’t end up making the cut as one of the year’s villains. Since Oliver has all but abandoned the list, it remains to be seen whether Brick will actually make an appearance. Given the chaos that Starling City has fallen into over the course of two years, it’s certainly not hard to believe he’s lurking around the corner.
9. A Blue Beetle Appearance
Back in a Season One flashback, Moira Queen made mention of how quiet her husband was after attending a “Ted Kord fundraiser.” Those familiar with The Justice League (or certain episodes of Batman: The Brave and the Bold) will no doubt recognize the real-life alias of The Blue Beetle. And though hints regarding Kord and his company have been snaking their way through the show’s first two seasons, perhaps Season Three will finally see the appearance of the famed tech genius and his blue suit.
8. The Return of Constantine Drakon?
In one of Arrow’s first major Easter Eggs, the show’s pilot finds Oliver facing off against villain Adam Hunt’s head of security—Constantine Drakon. And while Drakon might appear to be little more than a highly skilled lackey to the casual viewer, those well-versed in comics will recognize him as the famed Greek assassin who has been tormenting Green Arrow since his comic book introduction in 2003. Besides countless murders, Drakon’s actions include crucifying Oliver with his own arrows. The only reason Oliver escaped alive was that Drakon felt he had not been paid enough to kill a superhero. At the end of the aforementioned pilot, Drakon is supposedly dead from one of Oliver’s arrows. Here’s hoping they decide to Lazarus Pit him back into existence. Or, hey, maybe the guy has a twin brother with the same name?
7. A Harley Quinn Encore?
In the Season Two episode “Suicide Squad,” DC fans were treated to a joyful cameo when, during a scene set in an A.R.G.U.S. jail, a certain deranged, high-pitched voice emerged from one of the cells. And while the woman’s face was never shown, it was unmistakably Harley Quinn. Now, given Harley is so intertwined with the Batman mythology, this will more than likely turn out to be just a fun little reference. Still, I’m sure few Arrow fans would be opposed to having The Joker’s psychotic squeeze cause some real chaos across Starling City.
6. Laurel Becomes the New Black Canary
If fans of Arrow were forced to point to the show’s weak link, chances are it would turn out to be Laurel Lance. Nothing against actress Katie Cassidy, who often performs well with what she’s given, but Laurel too often ends up as either the damsel-in-distress or, in the case of Season Two, saddled with overly dramatic storylines about her disastrous love life and alcohol use. With Laurel’s sister/current Black Canary, Sara Lance, seemingly killed off during the premiere’s conclusion, one wonders if Laurel will finally live up to her namesake and take on the Canary mantle. Of course, it’d be a bit of a stretch for a docile lawyer to suddenly become a battle-hardened street warrior (it took Sara years of training from Ra’s al Ghul to reach that level), but—as evidenced by her Instagram Cassidy has clearly been bulking up since last year, so…we’ll see…
5. Thea Becomes “Speedy”
From the first episode, it was established that “Speedy”—the moniker given to Green Arrow’s young sidekick in the comic—was Oliver’s nickname for his kid sister, Thea. Given that Arrow’s Roy Harper appears to have more in common with his “Arsenal” alias, this leaves Thea open to fill that particular slot. Having taken off with her evil biological father, Malcolm Merlyn, in the second season finale, it’s not hard to believe that the youngest Queen child might soon be demonstrating, as Liam Neeson might say, “a certain set of skills” come this year. Certainly, actress Willa Holland’s Twitter account gives credence to the idea that her character will be way more physical this time around.
4. Oliver Gets Severely Maimed?
Frank Miller’s classic Batman story The Dark Knight Returns famously features an elderly Oliver Queen who has long since retired from crime-fighting after losing an arm. But, because Queen is such a badass, he ends up coming out of retirement to help Batman and further proves he can do just as well with only one limb. And while I’m sure the creators are not planning to write themselves into a corner by incorporating this bit of comic history into the show, it would be interesting to see Oliver attempt to continue his superhero antics after receiving a significant injury, whether it be to his arm or even the loss of a finger or two.
3. Cat’s in the Cradle…
Near the end of season two, a Moira-centric flashback revealed that one of Oliver’s former flames ended up pregnant. In order to protect her son, Moira paid the girl off to say she had a miscarriage. Using the money Moira gave her, the girl proceeded to move to another city. This means, somewhere out there, a toddler Connor Hawke (aka the future Green Arrow) is running around. Here’s hoping this plot point doesn’t get pushed to the side for very long.
Skinny Slade
At the conclusion of season two’s epic finale, Oliver finally defeated and captured Slade/Deathstroke. The villain was promptly placed in the most isolated of jail cells—an underground bunker on the deserted island that once held both him and Oliver. How, then—fans wondered—would the whole “feeding the prisoner” process go? Showrunner Marc Guggenheim jokingly responded to these questions with the hashtag #skinnyslade, but—in my interview with him earlier this year—he assures this controversial question shall indeed be answered.
1. Oliver Goes the Full Van Dyke?
In 1969, Green Arrow artist Neal Adams begin drawing the character with a full-blown Van Dyke beard, a look that would become iconic for years to come. And while actor Stephen Amell has toyed with various shades of scruff across the series, one can only hope the Van Dyke beard—in all its glory— makes an appearance some point this year (even as a meta joke).
Mark Rozeman is a Los Angeles-based freelance writer and regular contributor to Paste. You can follow him on Twitter.