I am sure I am not the only one to be saddened by the news that John Barrowman, aka Malcolm Merlyn from the CW’s Arrowverse, will not be returning next season to reprise his role on any of the DC TV shows that he has participated in for the past five years. The news broke during Planet Comicon Kansas City this past weekend, where Barrowman himself announced that the deal he signed last season to appear across all of the DC superhero shows was indeed only for one season, but not giving us any further reason than that for why his character will not be returning.
With all of the hype around Malcolm Merlyn appearing in the final run of episodes for ‘Arrow’ season 5 (following his run as one of the primary villains on ‘Legends of Tomorrow’ Season 2), there is much speculation that Merlyn could meet his end during the ‘Arrow’ finale, giving closure to the character for the time being. Some fan theories are claiming a theory that during the musical episode of ‘The Flash,’ when Barry and Kara are pulled into the Music Meister’s musical world, the villain states that if they die in the musical world they would die in the real world too. Because Merlyn died in the musical world, many fans are theorizing he is doomed to die in the main reality of the shows. Of course, none of that makes sense to me because the Merlyn in the musical world was not real, and we saw Merlyn himself alive and well for many episodes over on ‘Legends’ following the musical episode of ‘The Flash,’ so I think this is one fan grossly misinterpreting something Barrowman stated, most likely the man was making a joke. But I could be wrong.
What are your thoughts on the potential demise of Malcolm Merlyn during the final episodes of ‘Arrow’ Season 5? Do you think it was a long time coming and are glad it is finally happening? Or will you miss the magic John Barrowman brought to the Arrowverse? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
Source: Screen Rant
Nick is a freelance writer based in Los Angeles, who belongs to the privileged few who enjoyed the ending to ‘Lost.’ For more of Nick’s thoughts and articles, follow him on Twitter (@starfro67)
