Last season on “Arrow,” Oliver Queen defeated Slade Wilson (Manu Bennett) and saved Starling City from Slade’s superpowered army. But that’s the thing about being a superhero. There’s always a bigger adversary waiting in the wings.
While speaking with Entertainment Weekly, “Arrow” executive producer Andrew Kreisberg declined to say who Oliver’s new villain will be, but he did leave a few hints after revealing that the role will be cast soon.
“Slade had a very specific agenda — he was out for revenge and had set up this elaborate five-year plot,” said Kreisberg. “What’s interesting about the villain in season three is that he doesn’t necessarily disagree with [Oliver]. He doesn’t have any personal animus towards the Arrow, and he actually in some ways has a very similar worldview. [But] the Arrow is thinking too small.”
Kreisberg went on to say that “‘Being Oliver Queen is what’s holding you back from fulfilling your true destiny.’ So it’s a very interesting dynamic, but it is tied in the same way that Oliver last year was wrestling with, ‘Am I a hero or a killer?’ The theme of identity is tied up very much in how the villain is presented to Oliver.”
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Potential Spoiler Alert!
The name Ra’s al Ghul was mentioned a few times during “Arrow” Season 2, which has led several fans to guess that Ra’s al Ghul will be the new “Arrow” Big Bad for the third season 2. And they could be right. Kreisberg’s description of the villain does sound a lot like Ra’s al Ghul.
The only potential hiccup in that theory is that “Arrow” was using Ra’s al Ghul, a well known Batman villain before “Gotham” came along. DC and Warner Bros. have previously tried to keep the Batman related characters isolated from other TV shows. Potentially that could mean that “Arrow” wouldn’t be able to dip into Batman’s rogue’s gallery anymore.
Or Ra’s al Ghul could be an exception since he was already established in the show last season. Either way, the villain’s identity will likely be revealed when the role is cast.
“Arrow” Season 3 will premiere on Wednesday, October 8.
