Marvel fans are familiar with actor Neal McDonough as the mustachioed, bowler hat wearing Dum Dum Dugan in the MCU. As one of the Howling Commandos, he helped Captain America take down HYDRA’s forces in Captain America: The First Avenger, and also recently showed up in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and Agent Carter. Now McDonough is jumping over to the world of DC by joining Arrow as Season 4’s main antagonist: Damien Dahrk.
The CW describes McDonough’s Darhk as a “mysterious and sophisticated villain” who will be one of Oliver Queen’s greatest challenges. Although his presence in Arrow has been hinted for several months, leaked audition videos confirmed that the show was looking for an actor to play the enigmatic evildoer, and judging by the dialogue, he will be Team Arrow’s most dangerous and fearless adversary yet. In the comics, Dark is a member of the organization H.I.V.E., who are frequent foes of Superman and the Teen Titans.
Arrow fans will remember that Darhk was first mentioned in Season 3 as Ra’s al Ghul’s former ally in the League of Assassins. After Darhk didn’t get chosen to be Heir to the Demon, Ra’s was ordered to kill his friend, but he hesitated, and Dark was able to escape with his followers and some of the Lazarus Pit’s water. He went on to form H.I.V.E., which first mentioned in early Season 2 as the organization that hired Floyd Lawton, a.k.a. Deadshot, to kill John Diggle’s brother. Ra’s al Ghul later revealed that H.I.V.E. was responsible for several plots that Oliver and Team Arrow foiled, like attempting to buy Malcolm Merlyn’s earthquake machine, smuggling terrorist Gholem Qadir into Markova and hiring A.R.G.U.S. agent to steal classified files from his employer. Darhk was in Starling City during the Season 3 finale, but ditched town before Oliver could find him.
In addition to his work with Marvel, McDonough’s comic book media experience includes voicing Green Arrow in the animated short DC Showcase: Green Arrow, Deadshot in the animated movie Batman: Assault on Arkham and Flash and an alternate Nightwing in the video game Injustice: Gods Among Us. In live-action, he’s recently been seen in projects like Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2, Mob City, Justified and Suits.
Arrow Season 4 will debut on October 7 in its normal timeslot on The CW.
