Arrow Season 6 Finale Drops A Big DC Comics Tease

Tonight fans can expect an "unconventional" finale for season 6 of Arrow, which will also name-drop an important DC Comics team: the Longbow Hunters. According to showrunner Marc Guggenheim, the reference is used as a way of "planting a flag" for season 7.

In tonight's finale, titled "Life Sentence", Oliver (Stephen Amell) and his allies will face off against Ricardo Diaz (Kirk Acevedo) for the final showdown. In last week's episode, Diaz went all-in on killing Oliver and everyone close to him. Oliver and the others narrowly survived and reunited to strike back against Diaz. Team Arrow scored a brief victory over Diaz, who was forced to escape. The episode ended with Oliver revealing his secret identity to FBI agent Samandra Watson in exchange for help against Diaz and the Quadrant.

In an interview with last episode as showrunner will serve as an "unconventional" finale with "four big surprises-slash-developments," which is the most they've ever included in a finale. Apparently, the episode is "unconventionally structured" due to the fact that it has an usually long resolution which begins in Act 4, rather than Act 5.

We achieve an emotional denouement that is, I want to say pretty rare for a finale for us. Usually our finales are very bombastic and visceral and with a lot of fireworks — and there are plenty of fireworks here; James Bamford directed the episode! — but by the end of it you feel emotionally spent. I feel like it’s the most emotionally affecting of the series finales we’ve had on the show.

Guggenheim also mentions that "Life Sentence" will include a reference to the Longbow Hunters, a team of Green Arrow villains from the comics founded by Diaz's comic book counterpart, Richard Dragon. The team's purpose is to eliminate the Green Arrow. Guggenheim compares the reference to the way that the season 3 finale provided the setup for Damien Darhk's introduction in season 4. On the chances of the Longbow Hunters appearing in the future, Guggenheim says, "We would be [not nice people] to name-drop the Longbow Hunters and not see them in season 7."

It could be that Diaz will somehow survive the events of the season 6 finale and go on to become one of the Longbow Hunters who may terrorize Oliver next season. It remains to be seen if Arrow's Longbow Hunters will consist of existing or new villains of the Green Arrow - or a mixture of both.

It's not clear if the Longbow Hunters are in any way tied to the four developments that will play out in the finale. The surprising twists may have more to do with Oliver's confession to Agent Watson, as many fans are concerned that won't be coming back for season 7.