Arrow Season 3 Spoilers: How Should Manu Bennett Return as Slade Wilson?

Arrow is in the midst of Season 3, and the CW series will return with new episodes on Wednesday, January 21. Shortly after the show comes back, Manu Bennett will make his return as Slade Wilson aka Deathstroke. But why is Season 2's main villain coming back? And how should he make his return?

Before we dive into our theories and offer some ideas for Deathstroke's reappearance, let's look at the news. First, the "Spoiler Room" column at EW.com has some information on Slade's return. "Burning questions will be answered! 'Everyone's been asking: How does he feed himself?' executive producer Marc Guggenheim says. 'You're going to get an answer to that question. He loomed so large in season 2 that his return in episode 14 really makes it feel incredibly epic. You'll see why it's very appropriate for us to revisit Slade Wilson in episode 14 when you see the end of episode 13.'"

Episode 13 is called "Canaries" and features the return of Caity Lotz as Sara. But what could the ending of that episode have to do with Slade?

MTV News first reported the scoop on Bennett's return.

Bennett posted the photo at the top of the page with the caption "Time to make a comeback, kids." On the show, Slade almost always called Oliver Queen "kid."

The Australian actor played Slade in the first two seasons of the show. He first appeared in the flashbacks to Oliver's time on the island of Lian Yu in Season 1, and he and Ollie soon became friends and allies. But after Slade, all hopped up on Mirakuru, learned of Oliver's role in Shado's death, he snapped and vowed to destroy Ollie's world.

Bennett will return in Episode 14 of Season 3, but it's unclear if he will appear in the present day or in a flashback. We last saw Slade in the Season 2 finale when Oliver locked him away in ARGUS' prison on Lian Yu, so it's possible Oliver could go visit him in the jail, perhaps to get some advice on how to fight Ra's Al Ghul.

A flashback seems less likely, as Oliver thought Slade was dead after he stabbed him in the eye on the freighter. So it's unlikely the two met again in Oliver's time away from Starling City.

Perhaps the juiciest possibility involves Malcolm Merlyn. He made a comment to Oliver about his prison on Lian Yu, so it seems he knows about Slade's presence there. Could he spring Slade from jail in order to help take down Ra's Al Ghul?

Another possibility is that Oliver visits Slade in prison in order to get some insight into how to beat Ra's. After all, the best way to defeat a villain is to understand him, and who better to educate Oliver in this regard than Slade? But would Slade actually help Oliver after the Arrow took down Deathstroke?

And let's not forget that Captain Boomerang is also in that prison.

How do you think Slade will return to Arrow? Let us know in the comments section.