Whenever anticipation begins building for the coming year of DC TV shows, one of the things on everyone’s mind is who will serve as the overarching villains for each respective series. To date, we’ve learned that Ra’s al Ghul will play a vital role over on Gotham, with the Thinker and Reign set to show up on The Flash and Supergirl, respectively. But as cool as all that sounds, we’ve yet to learn who’ll be giving Oliver Queen headaches on Arrow.
According to Bleeding Cool, though, the following casting announcement has just been released:
[Ricardo Diaz] Male, 30s-40s, Diverse. Hardened ex-son recently released from prison for crimes he didn’t commit. Ricardo uses his freedom and 25 million dollars in settlement money to establish control over Star City’s criminal underworld. He’s a martial arts and fighting expert honed by years of life on the street and in prison. 7/13 Fractional Series Regular.
For those unfamiliar, Diaz was the New 52’s version of Richard Dragon and also united some notable supervillains under the name of “the Long Bow Hunters,” which, as we can see, aligns with the above description. If the producers do take more than a few cues from the comics, it should be noted that the likes of Clock King, Brick, Count Vertigo, Red Dart and Killer Moth made up that group. Of those, only Red Dart and Killer Moth have yet to be introduced into the Arrowverse, but there’s plenty of time for that within the coming 23 episodes.
As for the part describing him as a “fractional series regular,” that means whatever actor plays him will be contracted for at least a dozen episodes but may not be listed among the principal cast in the opening credits; think of how Teddy Sears was credited during his time on The Flash, and you’ll probably have a decent parallel.
Arrow returns for its sixth season on Thursday, October 12 on The CW.