Oliver Queen in 'Arrow' Season 8 will be driven by desire to reunite with wife Felicity Smoak
In the upcoming eighth and final season of 'Arrow', Oliver Queen/Green Arrow (Stephen Amell) is going to have to work harder than ever as he prepares for the impending 'Crisis on Infinite Earths', an event which could lead to the destruction of the entire Arrowverse. But even as Oliver faces the threat of multiversal destruction, his wife Felicity Smoak (Emily Bett Rickards) will continue to be a lingering presence in the back of Oliver's mind, even though Rickards herself will not be making an appearance in 'Arrow' Season 8.
The last time Oliver saw Felicity was at the end of season 7 when he departed with the Monitor (LaMonica Garrett) to help the cosmic entity avert the coming 'Crisis'. In the show's flashforwards to the year 2040, we saw an older Felicity also leaving with the Monitor to meet Oliver at the end of his journey, a journey the Monitor warned would be a one-way trip.
Amell spoke about the things driving Oliver in season 8 in an interview with TVLine published September 30 saying: "Two things: One, he believes the Monitor, because Kara and Barry were going to die and the Monitor gave him [an alternative]. And secondarily, he believes Felicity when she says, 'Whatever happens, I’ll find you.' He believes her. There’s a great exchange in [this season’s] episode 2, between me and Rila Fukushima, who plays Tatsu, where she says, 'You’re being driven by anger,' and he goes, 'I’m not angry.' Because he’s not. He’s simply doing what has to be done. In a lot of ways, he was driven by anger in those earlier seasons; not so much this year. He’s just making good on the deal he made. He made a deal. He saved Barry, saved Kara…. [Sheepishly] I’m bummed out that he lied to Barry about making a deal."
Oliver letting go of his anger is an interesting change, one that shows the amount of growth the character has been through since his first season. He's really come a long way from his days as the menacing vigilante known as the Hood and Felicity was a huge part of that transformation. Even though Oliver will supposedly be dying during 'Crisis', we hope he gets a chance to reunite with the love of his life once again before the final end of his story.
'Arrow' Season 8 will premiere on The CW October 15.
