‘Arrow’ Season 4: Producer Wendy Mericle And Cast Discuss Crossovers, Relationships, And Damien Darhk
Arrow season 4 has been treading into previously uncharted waters, but also some that were setup from season 1. Damien Darhk, the carryover villain from season 3, has been making waves amongst Arrow fans. One of those season 4 rumors that has reached Arrow producer Wendy Mericle was that Felicity Smoak’s father is Damien Darhk, according to Comicbook. Mericle addressed the rumor head-on, but her answer about Damien Darhk might disappoint some.
“You know, I would hesi… That’s a great idea, and such a great teaser, I almost don’t want to spoil it. Unfortunately, no. Damien Darhk is not her father. That’s a great theory. Who knows! You guys might have just arc-ed out the rest of the season for us right then and there. No, that’s a great idea, but no, he is not. We are going to bring her father in. He will definitely be evil. He’s going to be up to no good, but it’s not going to be Damien, unfortunately. Great idea though. Huge props to everyone there. That’s amazing.”
Speaking of Felicity Smoak, Emily Bett Rickards weighed in on Arrow season 4’s baddie (but not Felicity’s daddy), and Rickards certainly echoes the sentiment about Darhk’s presence on the show.
“…But having him be such present villain — grandiose, I think — he just takes up so much space and he has so much power, that there’s no way he wouldn’t intersect with Star City’s finest. I think Damien has it out for everyone, to be honest. I think he’s like ‘Well, this is going to be my town and I’m just going to kill anyone in my way.'”
Not all Arrow rumors can be facts, but besides Felicity’s mother, we will be learning about her father in season 4. He is evil, but he is not Damien Darhk. Darhk will be an Arrow villain that will be sticking around, as he is said be crossing over into DC’s Legends of Tomorrow and The Flash. Arrow producer Wendy Mericle discussed bringing Neal McDonough on as Damien Darhk, and the success so far with his portrayal of Arrow season 4’s mystical big bad.
“I think it was kind of… the cross-pollination that’s been happening between the three shows has been really interesting to watch and be a part of. It certainly was very much rooted in what he was doing. Especially in the premiere. From the beginning, he just has been an amazing presence on-camera, but also an amazing presence off camera. He’s a great guy to work with. The height of professionalism. I think it was just a combination of the performance and who he is and the fun of seeing someone that we’ve only introduced just this season on Arrow. Seeing him show up on the other shows so quickly I think was something we hadn’t done before. It seemed exciting. He’s been, again, he’s just amazing. He’s really watchable.”
Arrow season 4 has moved the Green Arrow, more importantly Oliver Queen, in a very different direction than fans have seen him from season 1 until now. Oliver Queen (Stephen Amell) is running for mayor of Star City. Something the Green Arrow did in volume 3 of the DC Comics run on the character. The Emerald Archer eventually revealed his identity to the world, while still donning the Green Arrow costume, but this was not until after his tenure a mayor.
Stephen Amell was asked by Comicbook whether or not this direction in the comic would come to CW’s Arrow or not.
“That’s an interesting question. I think that the whole idea of running for mayor — intrinsic in it is that we’re going to separate the Oliver Queen and Green Arrow character because Oliver Queen as a man representing the city can do things that the Green Arrow can’t. The Green Arrow can take down the city’s criminals but he can’t rally a crowd with a speech.”
Granted, many of the Arrow producers tend to flat-out deny certain things that later turn up on a later season of Arrow, Stephen Amell tends to play it straight. Arrow fans will just have to keep watching season 4 to find out.
[Image under CC BY-SA 2.0 Via Flickr| Courtesy Of Thibault| Resized]
