In typically complicated Arrowverse fashion, Arrow star Joseph David-Jones has played two versions of the same character.

The actor made his Arrowverse debut in DC's Legends of Tomorrow, appearing in two episodes of the show's first season as John Diggle Jr, who went by the name of Connor Hawke and took on the mantle of Green Arrow in an erased future timeline.

Three years later, David-Jones returned to play a different Connor Hawke in Arrow's seventh season, and will be returning as a series regular in the show's eighth and final season too.

The CW

But it looks like this isn't the first time he could have become a series regular, as the actor has admitted that he was expecting to stick around on Legends for a lot longer.

"Initially when I went in on Legends, it was under the guise that this character could potentially become a series regular," he told Radio Times.

“But I think Legends was still trying to figure out their dynamic and how it worked, and they were changing out people on the ship so much, they just didn't know if it was going to fit…

"The idea was that I was going to go back and join up with the Legends and be one of their crew members on the ship. But because the tone of that show has changed so much, I think that idea just got scrapped."

Legends of Tomorrow The CW

Thankfully, as we all know, that wasn't the end of his time in the Arrowverse, with the actor revealing that Arrow boss Beth Schwartz later reached out to him with the intention of bringing him back into the world.

"She reached out to my manager to see if I was interested in returning before she wanted to pitch to the network and to the studio the potential of bringing me back as this character," he continued.

"They were still figuring it out when I'd signed on. They told me that I would no longer be JJ and that they had another JJ coming in that they were going to use, but they didn't tell me the exact differences between the one timeline that I was on Legends and the timeline that I am now.

The CW

"They really keep everything close to the chest because a lot of it ends up changing. They're coming up with these storylines and it's constantly changing."

Arrow season 8 has an October 15 premiere date on The CW in the US. In the UK, it airs on Sky One and NOW TV.

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