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'Arrow' Season 8: Joseph-David Jones' Connor Hawke Upped to Series Regular for Final Season

Even though Emily Bett Rickards' time as Felicity Smoak on CW's Arrow appears to have come to an end with season finale "You Have Saved This City," there's one member of "Team Arrow" who's going to be sticking around a little longer. Joseph-David Jones' Connor Hawke has been promoted to series regular for the 10-episode wrap up to Arrow's eight-season run, which ties directly into this fall's major "Arrowverse"-plus(?) crossover event "Crisis on Infinite Earths." In 2016, Connor was first introduced in a two-episode arc on DC's Legends Of Tomorrow; going on to join Arrow three years later.

In the seventh season finale of CW's Arrow, the Monitor (LaMonica Garrett) returns to cash in on the favor that Oliver owes him: help him save the multiverse – taking a moment to tell him the "fine print" that Oliver's going to die during "Crisis" and there's nothing the Monitor can do to stop it. From there, the Monitor visits "Future Felicity" and takes her away to see Oliver… somewhere… and it's apparently a place she can't come back from.

https://youtu.be/XGoeR7qf14o

Speaking of "Crisis on Infinite Earths"…

Viewers can't say they weren't warned in advance. At the end of 2018's CW Arrowverse "Elseworlds" crossover that brought together The Flash, Arrow, and Supergirl (and nearly DC's Legends of Tomorrow, but they let it go to machine – way too busy for all that), we saw that the end was only the beginning… of the end. As Barry (Grant Gustin) and Oliver (Stephen Amell) shared what felt like a final toast and Kate Kane's Batwoman (Ruby Rose) returned to protecting the streets of Gotham – with a sense that something felt a little off –  we got a small taste of what's still to come in 2019…

"Crisis on Infinite Earths!" Worlds will live! Worlds will die!

And the CW's "Arrowverse" will never be the same…

At CW's 2019 May Upfronts presentation last week, the network offered a few "'Crisis' management" clues for info-starved fans. This year's "Crisis on Infinite Earths" crossover will include Arrow, The Flash, Supergirl, DC's Legends of Tomorrow, and Batwoman; the entire story will be five hours long; and the event will air over two quarters (3 episodes in December 2019, 2 episodes January 2020). There were initial concerns that DC's Legends of Tomorrow would not be involved – as the series won't be returning until midseason – but the announcement resolved that matter.

Curiously enough, Black Lightning is not listed as participating in the crossover event – surprising considering the "infinte earths" aspect lends itself to "guest appearances" from a number of televised DC properties (past and present) that aren't directly connected to the CW's properties. With that said? We're trusting our instincts, which tell us the Pierce family will be residing in the "Arrowverse" by the time the red skies clear.

For most of their respective seasons, things have been "All Quiet on the 'Crisis' Front" when it came to Arrow, The Flash, and Supergirl – but that changed in a big way during their respective season finales… even for DC's Legends of Tomorrow!

Over at The Flash season finale "Legacy," some recent maneuverings with Time moved up the date on Barry's "red skies/2024" newspaper warning just a wee bit… to say, 2019?

The fourth season finale of Supergirl "The Quest for Peace" had The Monitor speaking to a hooded figure, telling him that now is the time for him to lead "his people" and to take revenge on his captor… and brother: J'onn J'onzz (David Harewood). Meanwhile, just because Lex Luthor (Jon Cryer) may have shuffled off this mortal coil (???) doesn't mean his role in the upcoming "Crisis" is over quite yet…

DC's Legends of Tomorrow season finale "Hey, World!" found the plan to take down Neron (Brandon Routh) resulting in a major status quo change for Zari (Tala Ashe) – a change that the suddenly-appearing Monitor does not appear to approve of in any way, shape, or form. At least he got some popcorn out of it – and yes, that is The Book of Destiny he's using to balance it.

Deadline Hollywood (exclusive)

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