Liam Neeson Interested In Revisiting Ra’s Al Ghul In ‘Arrow’

It looks like fans may have a chance to see Mr. Liam Neeson reprise his role Ra’s al Ghul in the television series Arrow, if Neeson’s interest level is any indication.

Batman villains have been peppered throughout the series for awhile now, but it is only lately that Ra’s al Ghul has been fingered as a new upcoming villain for Arrow‘s Oliver Queen. In interview with Comic Book Resources, Andrew Kreisberg–writer and executive producer on Arrow–delved into why they settled on Ra’s al Ghul as the next big villain:

For Season 3, we wanted a new challenge for Oliver. [Ra’s] really speaks to the emotional theme of the season, which is, “Can I be both the Arrow and Oliver Queen at the same time?” The villain says to Oliver, “The reason you’re not able to fully be the Arrow and do the things you should be doing is because you’re still holding on to Oliver Queen. I’ve left my identity behind to full commit to my cause. If you did that, you could rise as high as I am.” Knowing that was emotionally what we wanted to do, that was how we landed on [Ra’s].

The whole idea feels promising, and after this announcement, wishful thinking set in on fans of Arrow and the DC universe; after all, Ra’s al Ghul had already been portrayed in live action form in 2005’s Batman Begins, as well as briefly in The Dark Knight Rises in flashes. In this modern day of shared universes, is it too much to think Liam Neeson would be interested in taking on the role again in Arrow? But is Neeson just too big of a name? The actor has definitely blown up in the past decade, virtually becoming this generation’s Chuck Norris on account of recent box office hits like Taken and Non-Stop, so the notion of him jumping from big to small screen seemed a bit farfetched.

Well, the idea isn’t as farfetched as it would initially seem. In an interview with MTV, Neeson expressed his interest in the possibility. “I would, in a heartbeat, if it came my way, yeah. Very much so,” was his response when asked if he’d be open to playing the character again.

As of this writing, Neeson claims he has not been approached by The CW, but hopefully creators of Arrow are listening. If they’d not been open to the idea before, perhaps this interview with Neeson will embolden them to approach him.

Thoughts on Liam Neeson taking on the role of Ra’s al Ghul again? Or is this a case where the DC movie universe is best left completely separate? Let us know below!