Arrow spoilers are below.
Oliver Queen currently has his hands entirely too full, with Star City currently at the mercy of the black magic of Damien Darhk (and the white teeth of actor Neal McDonough), but the show’s producers are already beginning the process of bringing another big bad to Green Arrow’s world for Season 5. Things are still in the early stages, but there is currently a casting call out for next season’s antagonist, and he sounds like he might not be all evil. Just largely evil.
The current code name for the Season 5 villain is “James,” and that can’t actually be anything close to the actual name, but at least some of these characteristics are bound to be legitimate. He is said to be a contemporary of Oliver’s that is dedicated to his own agenda, and he’s extremely charming and charismatic in the process. Anyone going out for the part needs to be able to convincingly portray someone who will be someone’s best friend in one second and his or her killer in the next, without offering any sign of his intentions. And it’s just fine with him whichever way it goes.
As you might expect, “James” isn’t someone whose life has been the easiest. His purpose when he’s introduced will be one of vengeance, as he experienced a violent and tragic loss in his distant past, and he wants payback in some fashion. That means he probably won’t have a happy family kept in secret, as his family will probably be part of that tragic loss. Arrow knows a lot about familial loss, so I imagine whatever this guy experienced was inexcusably awful in some way.
Actors wanting to audition don’t need to be any particular ethnicity, according to TVLine, but they do need to be in their 20s-30s and also have a physique that appears imposing. So if you’re a 55-year-old and you don’t think you could take Stephen Amell in a street fight, you might want to just skip this one.
It’s hard to tell if this villain will be someone from Green Arrow’s comic book past, or if it will be an amalgamation of several others, or an original character entirely. Or maybe he’ll come from the rogues gallery of a different superhero, since we all know this show likes to crib Batman’s lore at times.
We still have four episodes left in Season 4, which means four episodes that could completely change the game for any and all of these characters. I can’t imagine that Damien Darhk’s evildoing will stop just because Laurel is dead, so he may further disrupt Oliver’s life in the next month. And he’s not the only baddie making things hard for Team Arrow. By the time Season 5 gets here, this “James” guy might be facing a broken group.
All we really know about Season 5 right now is that Star City citizens will probably know too much and that we’ll have more Curtis Holt around. But we’ll know more each Wednesday night when Arrow airs on The CW.
