Variety is reporting that actress Madison McLaughlin will be reprising her role on Arrow as troubled teen Evelyn Sharp, who briefly impersonated Black Canary in season 4's "Canary Cry."
You might remember Evelyn as being angry at Oliver for not saving her and others from Damien Darhk's drug-induced slavery, and she was looking to kill Damien and Ruvé.
But she won't be coming back as Black Canary. Instead, Evelyn will come back as Artemis, who in the comics is a villain, but in the animated Young Justice Green Arrow takes her under his wing as a protégé.
After the much fan-hated season 4 (which featured lots of magic, lots of Ollicity drama, and lots of stupid Black Canary death), Arrow is making some big changes. According to star Stephen Amell, the show will be looking to go back to its season 1 and 2 roots and back off from the magic and mystical stuff.
Which brings us to the second big addition to season 5 reported yesterday: Walking Dead star Chad L. Coleman has come on board as Arrow's big bad, Tobias Church, a villain who wants to unite Star City's criminal elements under his rule.
Also new this season: Rick Gonzales will mix it up as violent Punisher-style vigilante Wild Dog, and Josh Segarra of Chicago P.D. has signed on as a series regular as Star City's new District Attorney (and also, because Star City is what it is, he'll be a masked vigilante named, perhaps rather pointedly, Vigilante). In the comics, Vigilante is a D.A. who seeks justice against the mob for the slaying of his family.
With all this talent, plus the awesome Echo Kellum also becoming a series regular, it looks like Arrow isn't pulling any punches for season 5.
As a longtime Arrow fan who felt exasperated beyond words at the stupidity of season 4, I'm looking forward to the changes and the new talent. I'm pretty excited about a Young Justice version of Artemis, and I'm liking the new additions as well. I hold out some hope that the showrunners learned their lesson with the mess that was season 4. Although I have zero hope that we will ever hear about the whole "we killed tens of thousands of people by blowing up an American city" thing ever again.
What do you think? Are you excited about the changes? Or have you sworn off Arrow forever? Sound off in the comments below!
Ivonne Martin is a writer, gamer, and avid consumer of all things geek—and is probably entirely too verbose for her own good.
