ARROW Casts FIREFLY's Sean Maher as Shrapnel

So how long before Shrapnel shares scenes with Isabel Rochev?

The Hollywood Reporter announced today that former Firefly/Serenity actor Sean Maher has been cast as Shrapnel for the CW series Arrow.  The DC Comics supervillain will make his first appearance in Episode 10, "Blast Radius," described in the article as "a serial bomber who places Starling City in a grip of terror and threatens the life of Sebastian Blood (Kevin Alejandro)."

Shrapnel made his first appearance in Doom Patrol (vol.2) #7 in 1988 and was created by Paul Kupperberg and Erik Larsen.  Little is known about the character, apart from that his real identity is Mark Scheffer and that he used to be a normal human with an ex-wife and two daughters before becoming a being made of organic metal pieces that can be projected outward in explosive bursts.

Maher, now 38, is the second Firefly actor to join Arrow, after Summer Glau debuted earlier in the show's second season as the recurring character Isabel Rochev.  He recently appeared in the short-lived NBC series The Playboy Club and performed the role of Don John in Joss Whedon's film adaptation of William Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing.

Shrapnel is the latest in a series of DC Universe characters to be adapted this season for the series, including Black Canary, The Flash, Brother Blood, Bronze Tiger, Amanda Waller, Sin and Professor Ivo.  Of course, with the character's comic book appearance requiring considerable makeup and/or CGI to pull off a decent live-action version, it seems likely there will be some changes to the character's depiction on television.

I don't suppose an appearance by Nathan Fillion as Hal Jordan is in the works as well...?