Arrow season 8 won’t be a full final run for The CW’s outgoing DC series, with the 10-episode season acting as more of a victory lap for the show. It’s been confirmed though that each episode will be dedicated to wrapping up a dangling plot thread or character arc. This means that various old faces will return and we’ve now learned of one more that we can expect to see again: Rila Fukushima’s Katana.
Stephen Amell revealed that news at the TCA press tour, with it confirmed that Katana – real name: Tatsu Yamashiro – will appear in episode 2, titled “Welcome to Hong Kong.” The character previously had a major role in season 3, which fits with showrunner Beth Schwartz’s previous tease that installment number two is a love letter to Arrow‘s third season. This will be the first time that Fukushima has been on the show since her brief cameo in season 5.
It’s long been assumed that Katana had to be removed from the series due to her appearance, as played by Karen Fukuhara, in 2016’s Suicide Squad movie. Though James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad is currently in the works, it’s doesn’t look like Katana will feature in it, which might be how Arrow is now free to bring their version back for season 8.
Other familiar faces we can expect to see in the farewell season include Colin Donnell as Tommy Merlyn, Susanna Thompson as Moira Queen and Josh Segarra as Adrian Chase. They’ll be playing different iterations of their old characters though as Oliver will be aiding the Monitor in saving the multiverse in season 8 and it’s expected that these actors will be turning up as doppelgangers from other Earths. Presumably, the same is true of Fukushima’s Katana as well.
In any case, the answers will be revealed when Arrow returns to The CW to begin its final chapter on Tuesday, October 15th.