'Arrow' season 8 may redeem John Diggle Jr or make him the villain of a spin-off series set in a dystopian future
Fans were quite divided about ‘Arrow’ season 7’s flash-forward sequences to the dystopian future world of 2040. But based on the casting for the final season, it seems we will be getting more of the future Team Arrow.
Both Katherine McNamara (Mia Smoak) and Joseph David-Jones (Connor Hawke) have been promoted to series regulars, which either means they will make their way to the past or that we will continue to explore the Star City of 2040 further. Mark Pedowitz, president of The CW network, confirmed during the Television Critics Association's summer press tour, a spin-off series based on ‘Arrow’ is still a possibility.
"Nothing is ever 100 percent done," he told The Hollywood Reporter. "You learn that over time. There's a possibility, but we haven't had a discussion about what that storyline will do as [we plot the] next generation [of DC shows]. There is another property we're looking at for the following season."
It seems the network still hasn’t made up their minds on whether to give the potential spin-off series the green light but the world of Star City 2040 does come with its own set of interesting heroes and villains. While Mia, Connor and the Canaries may be the heroes of this world, it also has its demons in the Deathstroke Gang, led by none other than John Diggle Jr. (JJ).
Season 7 established some of JJ and Connor’s backstory with Connor explaining how they grew up as brothers and how the weight of their father John Diggle’s expectations caused JJ to rebel and take up the mantle of Deathstroke. During the ‘Arrow’ panel at the San Diego Comic-Con 2019, it was announced that Charlie Barnett would be playing John Jr. in the final season.
We don’t actually know for sure if Barnett will be playing the 2040 version of the character or an alternate universe version we haven’t seen yet. The actor dropped quite a cryptic tease alluding to “a lot of worlds” coming into play in the final season.
"I'm only on 'Arrow' for a couple of episodes," Barnett revealed. "And you know, it's the last season of 'Arrow.' So, I know -- I shouldn't say, literally I catch myself in these positions where I'm about to drop some information, but I'm like 'Nah, let's take a sec.'"
"I think 'Arrow' has some interesting things coming up, but I don't know if I'm committed to the world, let's say," Barnett added. "There's a lot of worlds going on in 'Arrow' right now."
The Comic-Con trailer for ‘Arrow’ did give us a quick shot of a figure wearing Deathstroke’s mask which could mean we will be seeing the villain appear in the season. However, Manu Bennett, who plays Slade Wilson aka the original Deathstroke, has not been asked to return for season 8.
Based on what we know so far, it seems quite likely Barnett will be playing Deathstroke 2040, which will probably make him an enemy to the 2040 Team Arrow. If that’s how things go down, we’ll probably see JJ and Connor’s rivalry grow to parallel the one between their father John and their uncle Andy.
While John has been an amazingly heroic figure, Andy wasn’t so keen on walking the straight-and-narrow. John was finally forced to kill Andy when he threatened John’s family. JJ and Connor have a chance to grow past the mistakes of the past generation.
Diggle may not have been able to save Andy but Connor could still help JJ find redemption. Alternatively, JJ could also turn out to be just another cold-blooded killer, way past the point of no return. Either way, Barnett’s time on ‘Arrow’ is bound to be interesting, at the very least.
‘Arrow’ season 8 will begin airing on The CW October 15.
