Neal McDonough to play Damien Darhk in Arrow’s fourth season

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

Arrow fans should get excited as Oliver Queen is going to have quite the nemesis in the upcoming season of The CW's comic book series. With The Flash building on it's excellent freshman season and Legends of Tomorrow trying the multi-hero approach to storytelling, Arrow will try to recover from an uneven third season that saw R'as Al Ghul as the primary foe. Towards the end of the season, mention was made of another DC villain, Damien Darhk, who was billed as a foe to R'as Al Ghul. News out of Comic Con says he will appear this fall and will be portrayed by the great Neal McDonough.

McDonough should be instantly recognizable to movie and TV fans. The actor has played both heroes and villains, most recently as Dum Dum Dugan in both CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE FIRST AVENGER and Marvel's small screen Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and Agent Carter. He also played a great bad guy on FX's Justified. It is unknown how similar his take on Darhk will be to the DC Comic. Darhk has primarily been an opponent to the Teen Titans with access to high tech equipment. He also has a direct connection to H.I.V.E. which has already been teased on Arrow.

While I thoroughly enjoyed John Barrowman as Malcolm Merlyn in the first season, he felt neutered in the last run of episodes. The finale teased he could be a big villain in the near future, Arrow has struggled to find a worthy adversary since Deathstroke in the second season. Here's hoping the talent McDonough brings can elevate Arrow back to where it belongs.

Arrow's fourth season debuts October 7th on The CW.