Arrow is working hard to put together a more grounded, more human-focused arc for its fifth season; which could be exactly what the series needs to get back to its better days. Fans can expect a non-metahuman big bad, a new ally to Oliver in Wild Dog (Rick Gonzales; Old School, Reaper, Mr. Robot), and another potential ally in Adrian Chase a.k.a. Vigilante played by Josh Segarra (Chicago P.D.).
While these new characters bring their own brand of violence and vengeance to Arrow, none of them are any good with a bow. There must have been an all call in Star City for archers because Arrow has added yet another bow to its force for good.
Variety is reporting Madison McLaughlin (Major Crimes, Chicago P.D.) will be reprising the role of Evelyn Sharp from season 4, but in a larger arc as the DC Comics persona Artemis. Fans will recognize Evelyn as the girl who impersonated Black Canary in the episode following Laurel Lance’s (Katie Cassidy) death and tried to kill Ruvé Darhk (Janet Kidder).
It’s probably safe to assume that Arrow will go with the version of Artemis from Young Justice, given that character stepped up as Green Arrow’s sidekick when Speedy stepped down. In the comics, Artemis is the daughter of two villains (Sportsmaster and Tigress), but since we’ve already been given Evelyn’s back story, perhaps producers will just build upon her story now that she’s joined the good guys. In the aftermath of a near nuclear winter, it’s probably fair to say there are quite a few bad apples looking for redemption.
But in all of DC’s hundreds of characters that could be explored, Arrow had to dig up another archer? Or is this character chosen because Oliver must step into the mentor role again, and he doesn’t know how to teach anything else? Looking at the rest of the team, Diggle (David Ramsey) and Felicity (Emily Bett Rickards) are the only two who came in with their own talents. Laurel learned most of what she knew from Sara (Caity Lotz), while Thea (Willa Holland) and Roy (Colton Haynes) were brought in under Oliver’s tutelage.
There’s also the chance that Artemis was chosen because of her connection to the Young Justice team, in particular, Kid Flash/Wally West – a character that has been introduced on The Flash. McLaughlin’s run on Arrow is described as “several episodes” beginning with 502. We know that Evelyn’s parents were killed by Damien Darhk (Neal McDonough), but could she have had a sister as well? Surely there’s room to introduce her older sister, Jade Nguyen/Cheshire given her history with Roy Harper. Cheshire, by the way, is not an archer; her weapon of choice is the Sai.
Whichever direction the show takes Artemis, she’s got a long line of archers to live up to. Hopefully she doesn’t fail Star City.
The Flash season 3 will premiere Tuesday October 4th at 8pm on The CW, Arrow season 5 will premiere in the same timeslot on Wednesday October 5th, Legends of Tomorrow season 2 on Thursday October 13th, and Supergirl season 2 on Monday October 17th.
