In Arrow season 1, Oliver faced off against many villains. He came out victorious against most, but not all. Some of his foes will be making their presence known in the upcoming season 2. I spoke with Arrow’s Executive Producer Marc Guggenheim at the CBS/CW/Showtime Summer Press Tour Party to find out about a couple of the shows favorite villains: China White and Malcolm Merlyn.
Is Malcolm Merlyn dead? Executive Producer Marc Guggenheim wouldn’t answer that question, but he did confirm that John Barrowman would return in season 2 and have scenes with Stephen Amell (Oliver Queen).
That doesn’t necessarily mean that the Dark Archer is still alive as Guggenheim reminded, “We are a show that does flashbacks.” Though, that also doesn’t mean that Malcolm is dead either. We’ll just have to wait to find out in what time period Malcolm will be seen.
In addition to the return of John Barrowman, Kelly Hu will be reprising her role as the formidable China White in the second episode of season 2. Guggenheim teased that she will be changed woman, “We were dead set on not just bringing back China White, but bringing back China White and showing her in a new way and with a new dimension then just what we did last year.”
“There’s no point in bringing her back to just repeat the same old same old. So, there’s like one new scene that you go ‘Ooh! That’s a China White we didn’t see last year.’That’s part of the fun of season 2.”
In addition to the old villains, Arrow will be introducing new ones in season 2. Guggenheim elaborated, “Part of the enjoyment of the season 2 for us is how do you combine the old — not the old — but season 1 villains with the new season 2 villains.”
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“It’s the part of the fun of the show,” Guggenheim continued. “It’s part of the fun of being a super hero show, like the super hero mythos, is like the rogues gallery. I think we’ve done a fairly okay job of rounding out rogues gallery and then it’s about building on that in season 2.”
Arrow season 2 returns on Wednesday, October 9 at 8 pm ET.
Are you excited to see China White back in the mix? Do you think Malcolm died on the roof? Or, is he still alive to fight another day?
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(Image courtesy of the CW.)
Contributing Writer, BuddyTV
Contributing Editor and Writer for Collider, BuddyTV, TV Fanatic, CliqueClack, and other publications. TV criticism, reviews, interviews with actors and producers, and other related content. Founder of TV Diehard.
