ARROW Casts Kirk Acevedo as Richard Dragon

Green Arrow just got another enemy.

Deadline has revealed that the CW series Arrow has cast Kirk Acevedo as Ricardo Diaz, better known to DC Comics fans as Richard Dragon.  Acevedo is one of three new Arrow villains for Season 6, along with Michael Emerson and David Nykl.

According to the article, Richard Dragon is described as "A hardened ex-con recently released from prison for crimes he didn’t commit, Ricardo Diaz (Acevedo) is bent on taking over Star City’s criminal underworld.  A master in hand to hand combat, honed by years of life on the street, Diaz has yet to meet a foe he can’t take down."

Acevedo, 45, is best known as Miguel Alvarez on the HBO series Oz, and as FBI Agent Charlie Francis on the Fox series Fringe.  He's appeared in the films Dawn of the Planet of the Apes and The Thin Red Line, and on episodes of The Walking Dead, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., 12 Monkeys, Grimm, Band of Brothers, Kingdom, Blue Bloods, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Legends, Person of Interest, The Mentalist, and Prime Suspect.

Created in 1974 by "Jim Dennis", a pseudonym for Dennis O'Neil and Jim Berry, Richard Dragon first appeared in the novel Kung-Fu Masters, Richard Dragon: Dragon's Fists as Richard Drakunovski, a teenage sneak thief in Japan who broke into a Chinese dojo outside of Kyoto to steal a priceless jade Buddha.  Before he could get away, Richard was caught and beaten by the dojo's teenage student, Ben Turner.  O-Sensei, the dojo's master, saw something worth nurturing in Richard, and for the next seven years taught Ben and Richard, side by side, mastery of the martial arts.  Richard came to find an inner peace, only using his skill when absolutely necessary.  Once he felt there was nothing more he could teach them, the O-Sensei left the two.  Turner and Dragon were recruited by Barney Ling, head of the law-keeping espionage agency known as G.O.O.D. (Global Organization of Organized Defense), to join the organization. Together, Ben and Richard would defeat the corrupt businessman Guano Cravat, foiling his plans to instigate a war for his own benefit.  Ben and Richard founded a martial arts dojo in Manhattan, and Richard would go on to battle international threats such as Telegram Sam, the Preying Mantis, the League of Assassins, and his former superior, Barney Ling.

The character was brought into the DC Universe in 1975, starting with his own series, Richard Dragon, Kung-Fu Fighter.  As one of the DCU's top martial artists, Richard later trained heroes such as The Question, Oracle, and The Huntress.

In 2013, as part of the DC Universe continuity relaunch known as The New 52, Richard Dragon was reinvented by Jeff Lemire and Andrea Sorrentino in Green Arrow (vol.5) #23 as Ricardo Diaz, Jr., the son of a drug kingpin who had been killed by John Diggle (posing as Green Arrow).  He revealed that after his father's death and the fall of his criminal empire, he sought out and found the League of Assassins where his sensei taught him to become a living weapon.  He claimed that when his sensei also taught him patience and compassion, which he perceived to be a weakness, he killed his sensei and took his name.  Dragon placed a $30 million bounty on Green Arrow, which three members of the Longbow Hunters (Brick, Killer Moth, and Red Dart) intended to split.  Green Arrow was able to defeat all of them with the help of his young half-sister, Emiko.  Green Arrow was then reunited with his old partner, John Diggle, after Dragon attempted to kill Diggle by defenestration.  In a fight against both Green Arrow and Diggle, Dragon was able to significantly injure both of them, but was ultimately defeated.

Arrow returns to The CW for Season 6 on Thursday, October 12th.