The CW’s Arrow has broadened its horizons quite a bit, to begin Season 1 as a loose Batman Begins homage, then spread to superpowers and magic over the next few seasons, though most fans have called for a return to the series’ roots. So it is with Season 5, as producers promise an end to any magical big bads, and a return to the gritty side of superheroes.

Take this with a grain of salt for the moment, as Arrow Season 5 will still manage to coincide with the magical and metahuman shenanigans of The Flash, Legends of Tomorrow and Supergirl. All the same, IGN had a chance to speak to Arrow executive producer Wendy Mericle, who promised a return to the smaller scale that fans enjoyed in the first place:

The show was always meant to be a gritty crime drama at its heart. And then Flash came along, and oh my gosh, we have meta powers. And then Damien was, well, we haven’t done magic on the show, let’s try to do that,” she said. “I think for Season 5, just because it is an answer to Season 1, and we are sort of closing this chapter out, we did want to go back to our roots and figure out what is specific to this show. What is our universe? Go back to, ‘What is Arrow?’

Stephen Amell has certainly suggested as much, while Mericle also extended the concept to Season 5 big bad “Prometheus”:

[He's] not going to have magic, no powers. He has a very personal grudge and axe to grind with Oliver and he’s going to come at him in a really interesting, sociopathic kind of way.

In addition to The Wire star Chad Coleman taking the role of new baddie Tobias Church, alongside flashback villain Dolph Lundgren, wayward vigilantism appears to be a major theme for Arrow Season 5, following the return of Madison McLaughlin as a new Artemis, as well additions of Wil Traval’s Human Target, Rick Gonzalez’s Wild Dog, and Josh Segarra’s “Vigilante.” Carly Pope has also joined in a recurring role as a Coast City reporter, with a comic attachment to Green Lantern, while former WWE wrestler Stardust will also put in an appearance.

We’ll likely hear more of Arrow Season 5 soon, but what other DC goodness should we expect?

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