Arrow Spoilers: Showrunner Hints Oliver Will Appear In Tomorrow’s Winter Premiere, Arrow’s Absence To Push Ray Into A.T.O.M.?

Spoilers

We don’t have to wait to much longer for the return of Arrow as the CW drama is back tomorrow night.

In a recent interview with TVLine.com, showrunner Marc Guggenheim dropped some major clues about where the show is going in its back half of episodes.

On whether we will see Oliver Queen again…
“You will certainly see him in flashbacks. In fact, Episode 10 has, I think, some of the most intense flashback action we’ve ever had. We’ve got Oliver literally ziplining between buildings, as the camera follows him through a window, and there’s a huge shootout…. You’re still going to get plenty of Oliver. The how and the when and the why, that’s all a surprise.”

On whether the absence of the Arrow will force Ray Palmer to suit up as A.T.O.M….
“[Ray] was already on that trajectory. The relationship between Oliver’s death and Ray’s journey really lies in Felicity. Felicity is of the opinion that Oliver went off to have a duel to the death with the most dangerous man in the world… basically, a suicide mission. And here she finds, contemporaneous with Oliver’s death, Ray embarking on his own suicide mission. In [Episode] 9, she said, ‘Why does this keep happening to me?’ and Ray represents an opportunity for her to try to fix what she considers a mistake that Oliver made, to prevent him from also tempting fate. Whether or not she’s successful, that’s part of these upcoming episodes.”

On Felicity and Laurel’s blossoming friendship…
“I would say they’re definitely friendly. Are they on their way toward becoming friends? We’ll see what’s organic and feels right. Part of the fun of watching these two characters interact right now is they don’t have this background of friendship to fall back on. All they really have is this common denominator in Oliver, and in Oliver’s crusade. So watching that relationship slowly unfold and build naturally — with all of its awkwardness, where Felicity’s like, ‘Am I out of line by saying this? Am I out of line by saying that?’ — is really fun and interesting, especially to watch Emily [Bett Rickards] play it because she always brings such an authenticity to those sorts of moments.”

To read more of the interview, visit TVLine.com