John Barrowman has been cast in The CW’s new super hero adaptation.
Barrowman is popular with the genre crowd for his role on Doctor Who, which resulted in the spin-off Torchwood series that lasted 3 or 4 seasons, depending on whether you think Miracle Day counts as a season or a special event.
On both shows, he played Captain Jack Harkness, an interstellar badboy who is accidentally made immortal, then put in charge of the secret Torchwood Agency on Earth, tasked with protecting the planet from alien threats.
Now the gregarious actor has been cast in a supporting role in The CW’s adaptation of the Green Arrow comics, called simply Arrow, but we have little to go on as to what role he will play.
The casting call described the character as a “well-dressed man” who is “as mysterious as he is wealthy … he is an acquaintance of the Queen family and a prominent figure in Starling City.” In trying to think who that could be from the Green Arrow story, I first tried to think of any other heroes that could fit the bill, and while I think Barrowman would make a great Hal Jordan, I don’t think it makes sense from the description (Jordan was never wealthy).
It could be Daniel Brickwell, a criminal overlord who has his hands in the organized crime of Starling City (Star City in the source material). He has a superhuman power (tough skin), but was more of a political challenge for the Green Arrow than a physical threat. At one point in the comics, he even sides with Queen against the criminals in the city, though it is later discovered to be a ruse. I can definitely see Barrowman in this part.
I can also think of a couple other one-off villains who might fit the description, and plenty of regular characters that fit all but one of the traits described above (rich, male, well-dressed, and mysterious), yet Brickwell is my best guess from the source material.
Then again, a lot is changing in this new take on the story, and they could be altering an existing character or even simply inventing someone new.
Arrow, which stars Stephen Amell as Oliver Queen/Green Arrow, will air on Wednesday evenings starting this fall on The CW.
