ARROW Casts Neal McDonough as Damien Darhk

Darhkness is about to fall on Starling City.  (See what I did there?)

TVLine has revealed that the CW series Arrow has cast Neal McDonough as obscure DC Comics supervillain Damien Darhk for Season 4.  According to the article, Darhk is described as "a mysterious and sophisticated villain, and an adversary of the late Ra’s Al Ghul.  Now the leader of his own clandestine group, this cunning foe will prove to be one of the Arrow’s greatest challenges."

McDonough, 49, is best known to comics fans as Dum Dum Dugan in the film Captain America: The First Avenger and on the TV series Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and Agent Carter. In addition, he's appeared in the films Star Trek: First Contact as Lieutenant Hawk, Minority Report, Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li, and RED 2.  His other TV appearances include Suits, Mob City, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Desperate Housewives, Tin Man, The X-Files, Band of Brothers, Quantum Leap, and China Beach.

Darhk was a background character in Season 3, although never seen on screen.  Ra's al Ghul (Matt Nable) recalled how the two trained together in the League of Assassins and how they split off from one another, with Darhk taking some of the Lazarus Pit's water for himself and starting his own faction.  In addition, he was named as the leader of H.I.V.E., which appeared in a flashback with John Diggle's deceased brother.

Created in 1999, Damien Darhk first appeared in Titans (vol.1) #1 as a mysterious figure who claimed to be a major player in America's underworld and had some connection to the criminal organization H.I.V.E.  He also seemed to have had access to unique high-tech equipment that has never been used by any known organization.  

Darhk was considered to be a major criminal by the C.I.A. and F.B.I., but their investigations revealed no hard evidence against him.  Damien seemed to be in his early twenties, but was already well-established and well-connected.  While facing off against the Titans, Darhk was shot to death by Vandal Savage. However, thanks to blood that granted immortality, he later survived.

Arrow will return to The CW for Season 4 on October 7, 2015.