John Barrowman, who plays Malcolm Merlyn, talked about the future of his character in season 4 of Arrow at the recently held San Diego Comic Con.

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Barrowman had some very interesting observations to make about the challenged Merlyn will face as the new Ra's al Ghul in the next chapter of the CW series.

The actor suggested that Merlyn has close ties with the Arrow team and has always considered Oliver (Stephen Amell) as something of a son, while Thea's (Willa Holland) association with the crew makes him naturally protective toward them. But that does not mean Merlyn will play all nice as the new Ra's al Ghul and he will have to knock someone off.

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Screen Rant reported from the event and got Barrowman's views on the subject:

"This is how it works for me. My Malcolm, I believe I have a soft spot for every one of those people on that team. And I haven't figured out why. Maybe it's because of Tommy knowing most of them or it's because I look at Oliver being like a son. Or my daughter, I knew I was training her to be part of it. I will protect them. But if I have to kill someone, I will. It's as black and white as that. But don't mess with them. Don't get in the way, because I will put my neck out on the line to protect them. That's what I think. That's what makes it work for me. If that happens, I don't know."

He added that things would get difficult and then one cannot know what goes through Merlyn's mind as he has always been a tricky one.

"Not much scares Malcolm. Ra's scared Malcolm when he was in front of him," Barrowman said. "But I always, again, play it like do we really believe that Malcolm is scared or is he a great manipulator? When you watch him...Which I love when I watch him myself, because I do watch myself, I love watching him going, "I don't really know if I believe you are telling the truth."

The announcement of Arrow's renewal for a fourth season was made earlier this month.

The finale of season 3, entitled 'My Name is Oliver Queen,' of Arrow aired on May 13 on The CW.

Watch the promo teaser for season 4:

Tags: Arrow the cw television