By: Russ Burlingame on September 1, 2012
John Barrowman of Dr. Who and Torchwood fame was recently cast in The CW Network’s forthcoming Green Arrow adaptation Arrow as…well, that’s really the $25,000 question, isn’t it? Billed as “Well-Dressed Man,” Barrowman’s mystery role has caused quite a bit of discussion in comics circles, especially given the fact that so many DC characters have already been announced as appearing in Arrow, leading many to believe that the vague description of the role is meant to hide the identity of an established character who may turn out to be a major player in the show.
The Well-Dressed Man is described as “a wealthy acquaintance of the Queen family and a prominent figure in Starling City” in the only official information made available from Warner Television so far.
Who are some of the candidates? Check them out below…
Stanley Dover, Sr.
The father of the boy at the center of the old Stanley and His Monster stories, both of whom played a role in the Kevin Smith run on Green Arrow comics. It may seem a long shot, particularly for a series that’s ostensibly trying to stay somewhat grounded in reality, but Entertainment Weekly jumped right to that conclusion when they initially reported his casting withou passing go. EW is owned by the same parent company as DC Entertainment and The CW, so they may know what they’re talking about.
Bruce Wayne
It’s been hinted that Bruce Wayne and/or Batman could appear in Arrow at some point, and while it’s unlikely we’ll see the pointy-eared Caped Crusader anytime soon, it’s not outside of the realm of possibility that his celebrity alter ego might show up along the way. He’s certainly wealthy–but does he count as a big name in Starling City? Probably not, since he’s so solidly associated with that other place.
Lex Luthor
Again, he’s pretty deeply-entrenched in Metropolis to most fans…but then again, Lex appeared in Smallville for a number of years and nobody much called them on it–and during that series, it was established that he doesn’t have a whole lot of love lost for Green Arrow. While probably a long-shot, especially because Barrowman has hair, the fact that he’s a few years older than most of the principal cast for the series could set Lex apart and help to differentiate the show from the Smallville Universe should they choose to go this route.
Slade Wilson
The secret identity of master assassin Deathstroke the Terminator has never been associated with wealth and privilege before, but since we know he’s going to appear, but don’t know who might play him yet, it’s a distinct possibility that some minor mythology tweaking might happen. And Barrowman, an established actor with geek cred and a multi-episode arc, would be as good a candidate as any to play the guy likely to be one of, if not THE, central villain in the show.
Maxwell Lord
We’ve already established that we think Max will be coming back in a big way in the forthcoming Third War crossover and its fallout in the comics. He’s appeared in Smallville and has a tenuous-but-real connection with nearly every character in the DC Universe. And until he was revealed as the Black King of Checkmate and started wandering the DC Universe in a sinister polo shirt and boots, there were very few men in the DC Universe more well-dressed than the Justice League International’s United Nations liaison Maxwell Lord.
Lord is, of course, mostly associated with people who’ve got powers, but a number of the old JLI folks (including Booster Gold, Blue Beetle and others) are really very much like Green Arrow–guys with costumes and equipment that give them the appearance of super-powers.
Simon Stagg
Sure, he doesn’t have all that strong a connection to Green Arrow…and he’s pretty well-connected to Metamorpho, a guy with powers (which the showrunners have said more or less won’t exist in the world of Arrow), but consider this: Felicity Smoak, whose stepson in the comics is Firestorm, will appear in the series.
Metamorpho’s power set and Firestorm’s have quite a bit of overlap and it’s hard not to wonder whether there might be a Stagg Enterprises project looking into matter transmutation or something similar, which could open the door for references to (if not appearances by) characters like Metamorpho, Firestorm and the Metal Men (who have their own movie coming up, incidentally).
Who do you think the Well-Dressed Man could turn out to be? Let us know on Facebook, Twitter or in the comments!
