John Barrowman Wants To Return As Malcolm Merlyn

John Barrowman is ready and willing to return to Arrow if and when he’s asked.

Even though Malcolm Merlyn stepped on a mine in the Season 5 finale, there was no body seen… and in response to our Comic-Con interview video with Arrow Executive Producer Marc Guggenheim which you can see below, Barrowman himself responded to Guggenheim’s words via Instagram:

“I am surprised and very happy to hear Marc Guggenheim’s comments about Merlyn’s future in the Arrowverse because in a very decisive phone conversation we had with Wendy Mericle, I was led to believe that there were no plans to bring Merlyn back,” he wrote. “If they have changed their mind, awesome!”

“I have LOVED playing Malcom Merlyn and was SO disappointed to be told the news of his death and to no longer be part of a fantastic team and show. If they want me back, they just have to ask! The ball is back in their court. Write Merlyn an amazing storyline and I will be there,” Barrowman continued.

Here’s what Marc Guggenheim said at Comic-Con:

“We told John when we called him to tell him about the events of the finale, every single person on all the shows has come back in some shape or form. We’ve got flashbacks, we’ve got time travel, we’ve got parallel universes. Goodbye is never goodbye. He has an open invitation to return to the show any time he wants.”

Our thanks to ComicBook for catching the quote and to Andy for pointing us to the Instagram post.