Last week, it was announced that Colton Haynes will reprise the role of Roy Harper later this season on Arrow. Considering Roy left the vigilante game after faking his death in Arrow Season 3, this led many to wonder what the reason will be for him returning to Star City. Now it’s been announced that it won’t be on his own terms, but under blackmail from DC supervillain Noah Kuttler, a.k.a. The Calculator, who will be played by Tom Amandes.
Arrow’s Calculator is described as a “criminal mastermind and technical genius” who will use his computer skills to force Roy to come out of “retirement” do his bidding, which will subsequently lead to a battle with Team Arrow. Amandes is a frequent collaborator in Arrow executive producer Greg Berlanoti’s various projects. amd TV Line reports that the actor will appear in two episodes, starting with Episode 12, titled “Unchained."
The Calculator was introduced in 1976 as an unusual criminal who allowed himself to be defeated by various DC heroes so that his technology could study their powers and prevent him from ever being captured by one of them again. After sporadic appearances in the years following, he reappeared in 2004 in a new line of work. Similar to how Barbara Gordon assisted heroes as Oracle, Calculator is now an information broker for other supervillains; except unlike Oracle, he charges for the information he provides. Despite this new career, he still found himself directly battling heroes like the Teen Titans and Birds of Prey. Outside of the comics, Calculator’s only appearances in other media have been in the animated series Batman: The Brave and the Bold and the game DC Universe Online.
In the Arrow Season 3 episode “Broken Arrow,” Roy took the fall for Oliver Queen and convinced the citizens of then-Starling City that he was the true Arrow. After his death was faked in prison, he left Team Arrow to begin a new life, though we did see him reunite with Thea in “This Is Your Sword.” Assuming there’s no personal connection between Roy and Calculator, it stands to reason Calculator somehow figured out Roy wasn’t dead and used his online expertise to track the former Arsenal down for nefarious reasons. One should also wonder if Arrow’s Calculator might also end up being Felicity’s father, who is both extremely intelligent and a criminal. Hey, given how skilled Felicity is in computer science, it would make sense if she picked up some of those skills from her dad.
As mentioned earlier, Amandes is a veteran of Berlanti’s shows, including Everwood, Eli Stone and No Ordinary Family. His other recent roles include playing President Abraham Lincoln in the 2013 movie Saving Lincoln, Dr. Pelikan on NBC’s Parenthood and Governor Samuel Reston on ABC’s Scandal.
Arrow airs Wednesdays at 8 p.m. EST on The CW.
