Warner Television/The CW

Colton Haynes has been bumped down to recurring for the final ten-episode season of ‘Arrow’.  Haynes was a series regular for Season 7, but actually only appeared in less than half those 22 episodes.  At the TCA press tour, executive producer Beth Schwartz told Green Arrow TV:

“We hope to have him back.  We love him and he’s obviously one of the foundations of the show.”

Haynes took to Twitter to comment:

So that at least offers hope that Roy will be back for the last batch of episodes in some capacity.  It was previously announced that Katherine McNamara (Mia), Ben Lewis (William), and Joseph David-Jones (Connor) had been promoted to series regulars for the last season, and Charlie Barnett has been cast to pay the future version of John “J.J.” Diggle Jr. in a series regular capacity, so it seems that Haynes’ part had to be scaled back to accommodate those.  Especially if the writers and producers were at a bit of a loss as to what to do with Roy.

 

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Haynes’ presence on the show has been sporadic over the years.  He was a recurring cast member during Season 1, and a regular for seasons 2 and 3.  He left for personal reasons but returned as a guest star in Season 4 and 6, and finally as a regular last season, the seventh.

It does sound as though Roy will appear in some episodes during the send-off season.  Emily Bett Rickards, who played Felicity Smoak for all seven previous series, left the show and has stated that she will not return in any capacity for the eighth.

‘Arrow’ returns on The CW on Tuesday, October 15.