'Arrow' Cast Breakdown Includes Black Canary, Merlyn

Speedy is the wrong word, but things are moving swiftly on The CW's "Arrow," the upcoming pilot based on DC Comics' "Green Arrow" franchise. It's already known that the pilot, from "Green Lantern" movie duo Marc Guggenheim and Greg Berlanti, has nothing to do with "Smallville" actor Justin Hartley, who played Oliver Queen on the Superman-starring series for several seasons. A new casting breakdown only makes that news more official.

The TV Addict has scored a casting breakdown for "Arrow," revealing all kinds of familiar characters including Black Canary and Merlyn, albeit with a few changes. Some descriptions below the break.

Oliver Queen: A 27 year old reformed bad boy, who after having spent five years shipwrecked on a tiny, brutally dangerous island in the South China Sea returns to town a different man. Or to be more specific, a tortured, thoughtful master of the bow with a ferocious determination to make a difference.

Dinah "Laurel" Lance: 28 years old, smart sexy, Laurel is a legal aid attorney determined to use her life as a one-woman war against the 1% following the death of her younger sister Sara. A sister, who as luck would have it, just so happened to have died aboard Oliver's yacht.

Tommy Merlyn: 28 years old and devil-smooth, Tommy is a trustafarian like Oliver, a spectacularly rich young man whose life revolves around parties, clubs, liquor and lots of anonymous sex. Unlike Oliver, he can't seem to understand his former best friend's sudden change of lifestyle and direction.

John Diggle: 35 years old, African-American, Diggle is really, really big, a former military man who served with the Army Rangers in Afghanistan, and has been a bodyguard for hire for the last four years. Hired by Moira to be Oliver's chauffeur and protector, Diggle soon finds he is trapped in a battle of wits, as Oliver repeatedly eludes his protection. But in fact, Diggle's primary conflict is one of loyalty — he has to show that he's working for Oliver, not Moira, before Oliver will give him a smidgen of trust.

A few questions: is Canary ditching "Dinah" from her name? Is "Diggle" a reference to "Green Arrow: Year One" writer Andy Diggle? Will the pilot please, please be a retelling of the "Year One" story? Let us know what you folks think in the comments and on Twitter!