Arrow's David Ramsey Talks A.R.G.U.S., The Flash and More

Tonight's episode of Arrow, titled "A.W.O.L.," will square off the Diggle brothers -- John Diggle and his former Ghost brother Andy -- against Shadowspire, a terrorist organization with ties to Oliver's time on Lian Yu.

Along the way, the brothers will team up with A.R.G.U.S., the shady, quasi-governmental organization that runs the Suicide Squad...and for which John's wife Lyla Michaels used to work.

Ramsey joined ComicBook.com to talk about tonight's episode, his upcoming guest appearance on The Flash, and the future of the Diggle Family.

Going forward, do you think Diggle is going to find himself increasingly involved with A.R.G.U.S.? It seemed like Lyla was out, but now we see the two of you in the base this week and then representing A.R.G.U.S. in The Flash.

I think so. I think it's just shedding more light on the development of these two characters. John has a rich, rich history. We met him in mourning of his brother's death, a three-time vet, special forces. He's got a rich personal history -- he got married once, divorced, married again to the same woman, had a child.

His wife's involvement in A.R.G.U.S. and Diggle's reluctant involvement because of his life with A.R.G.U.S. is one more interesting piece of the puzzle.

I think all of this gears up to you being interested in a John Diggle/Lyla Michaels team-up with Team Flash. I think for the first four seasons, we've earned that visit, of them going without the rest of the team and the audience feeling like you're invested in seeing that.

Has it been gratifying to see that kind of investment on the part of the audience, and to know you're such a fan-favorite character?

As an actor, it's a treat. You don't know what resonates with people — who knew that Emily would come to the show with Felicity and become what she became? The audience would get behind her and people would take to this relationship. No one could have called it.

No one could have called how beloved John Diggle has become. I think for John, it's his sensibility — John is a regular guy. Felicity is one of the top ten smartest people in the world and Oliver is one of the three greatest fighters in the world. You've got these other people who have gone through these great cathartic things to push them over the edge.

For Diggle, he wanted a sense of purpose. He wanted to help his community, so he joined the Army, joined the Special Forces. Anyone can be John Diggle. Unlike the others, who had these cathartic experiences, John Diggle decided to do it himself, and he did. So I think there's a piece of that that makes Diggle much more accessible and normal.

How much have you talked with Eugene Byrd about your characters' relationship and off-camera backstory?

We do talk. How much do we talk? We went to dinner a few times and talked about our characters, our backstories, what this is all about.

I was asked, "who should play Andy?" And he was on a very short list. He was at the top of the list. He went, blew the audition out of the water and got the part. I had worked with Eugene before and I knew he could reach who this guy was.

But he's just been great; he's gone way beyond our expectations.

So what can you tell us about the next big developments in Diggle's life?

You do know that there is an upcoming episode of The Flash, where Diggle and Lyla go after an escaped Suicide Squad member in King Shark. They go as A.R.G.U.S. So this is an A.R.G.U.S. mission, it's been touted as an A.R.G.U.S. mission, and they're both going with the whole arsenal of A.R.G.U.S. behind them.

So there's some developments in terms of their development with A.R.G.U.S., Lyla what she ultimately becomes as part of A.R.G.U.S.. Ultimately that leads into what A.R.G.U.S.'s involvement will be with Team Arrow and bringing down Damien Darhk, because they will be assisting in that.

But Lyla is a big, big part of that. Her involvement with A.R.G.U.S., as I hinted before, becomes very intimate, and by virtue of him being her husband, Diggle becomes part of it as well.

You and Audrey Marie Anderson have real chemistry onscreen. Did you guys test together, or how did that work out?

It's just something, like Stephen and Emily, they just kind of clicked. I don't know if there's anything — we're both parents, I don't know if that has anything to do with it. We did talk at length about what it feels like to be a parent, and how it would feel every day knowing that when we walk out the door, we could be leaving our child. I think that connected us, that understanding as parents, that there's a reality that we bring to those intimate moments when we're dealing with our child and we're dealing with very serious issues.

The other part of it is that unknown thing that's chemistry between actors. You can't put your finger on that, but it has worked — and again we've earned it. By the time you get that call from the executive producers that "you and Audrey are going to Flash by yourselves," you know that they've seen that this will be a good move because the audience are invested in these two characters.