Neal McDonough Joins Arrow as a Unsuspected Series Villain

July 10th, 2015 by Irwin Fletcher Comments

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I used to be a massive fan of DC Comics. I suppose in some ways I still am, but I can no longer really support a lot of character decisions and the directions that the company has taken since the New 52. It’s got to the point where I have had to stop reading the Green Lantern books… and I’m the guy with a Green Lantern profile picture on this site.

The reason I am telling you this, is to clarify that I do know a great deal about the DC Universe. With this in mind, I was deeply shocked by the announcement made for Arrow today.

For those who are unaware, in was announced today that Neal McDonough (Minority Report and Captain America) was cast as Damien Darhk. In the comics Damien was a young businessman who had encounters with the Titans, during Devin Grayson’s run on the book. However, the last time the character appeared in the comics was the very early 2000’s, and he has never been mentioned since.

According to the press release, Damien Darhk is, “a mysterious and sophisticated villain, and an adversary of the late Ra’s al Ghul. Now the leader of his own clandestine group, this cunning foe will prove to be one of the Arrow’s greatest challenges”.

Based on these descriptions, and what we know from the comics, I think the group this is referring to as H.I.V.E (think DC’s answer to Hydra). The character will probably be a fairly loose adaptation, given that in the comics Darhk was a young man, but I will be interested to see what McDonough can bring to the character.

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