‘The Vampire Diaries’ season 6 spoilers: Steven R. McQueen departing as regular

We assumed that there eventually was going to be a certain amount of flux on “The Vampire Diaries” moving into a seventh season, and we now know exactly who is going to be saying farewell: Steven R. McQueen. The man behind Jeremy Gilbert has been a part of the show since the beginning, but he seems to be ready to move on to do some other things.

Of course, the funny thing about this news is that with this show, getting killed off is almost less definitive a way of leaving than your character just going somewhere else. Per showrunner Julie Plec to TV Guide, we will be saying goodbye to Jeremy courtesy of an episode that allows him to move on, and have something closer to a normal life. She also confirms that this was the actor’s decision, and not so much something that she show decided to do:

“We’re actually saying goodbye to one of our characters in the 14th episode … [Jeremy] is going to art school. We’ll see what his next path and journey is, [but Steven R. McQueen] is all grown-up and ready to move on, so we’re saying goodbye to him as a series regular. We got him a cake and dressed as superheroes and gave him a big party!”

Speaking of superheroes, it is probably fair to say that McQueen would love his next gig to either be “Arrow” or “The Flash.” He has long campaigned to play Nightwing in this universe, and is a serious fan of the comic-book world. Also, remember that The CW likes to use familiar faces across their shows. Stephen Amell originally was Brady the werewolf on “The Vampire Diaries” seasons ago.

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