When last we saw the handsome visage of Manu Bennett's Slade Wilson on Arrow, Oliver had opted not to kill him, in favor of locking him up in an A.R.G.U.S. prison on the island of Lian Yu. And sure, Oliver was trying to stick to his "no killing" rule, but I suspect that his decision to let Slade live was also the result of Arrow's writers not wanting to close off the possibility of writing for Slade again. They probably didn't want to put themselves in the position of having to find a second miraculous way for the character to cheat death when they wanted to bring him back, you know? At the time, Slade vowed that he would eventually find a way to escape his prison, and now it looks like that day might come sooner rather than later. Or not. According to MTV News, Bennett is Slade-d slated to appear in Episode 314 when Arrow returns from its winter hiatus.
Unfortunately (or fortunately?), it remains unclear whether Bennett will be appearing via flashback à la Colin Donnell when Tommy popped up in Hong Kong earlier this season, or whether he'll be part of the present-day storyline. My money's on a flashback, but what do you think?
Are you excited to see Bennett reprise his role, or should Arrow have waited a bit longer before reminding us of Slade's looming presence?