While we still don’t know who survived the dramatic cliffhanger ending of the fifth season of Arrow outside of Oliver and his son, William, what we do know a bit more about are the villains for season 6.
Videos by ComicBook.com
Entertainment Weekly spoke with Arrow executive producer Wendy Mericle and while she didn’t directly reveal exactly who would be Team Arrow’s main villain, there may be plenty of personal villains to go around.
“As usual, every season we want to try to up the stakes and do something different. This will be something we’ve never seen before. The villain will be hopefully as dynamic and as interesting as the ones we’ve had in the past. These people, or this person, won’t just be somebody that’s a thorn in Oliver’s side, but it’ll effect the whole team personally and very directly,” Mericle said.
One rumored villain for season 6 is Ricardo Diaz, the New 52 version of Richard Dragon who, in comics, lead a team of Green Arrow’s enemies referred to as the Longbow Hunters. Bleeding Cool reported that a casting announcement went out for Diaz, referring to the character as “Male, 30s-40s, Diverse. Hardened ex-son recently released from prison for crimes he didn’t commit. Ricardo uses his freedom and 25 million dollars in settlement money to establish control over Star City’s criminal underworld. He’s a martial arts and fighting expert honed by years of life on the street and in prison. 7/13 Fractional Series Regular.”
Arrow premieres on Thursday, October 12 at 9pm.
After a violent shipwreck, billionaire playboy Oliver Queen (Stephen Amell) was missing and presumed dead for five years before being discovered alive on a remote island in the North China Sea. He returned home to Star City, bent on righting the wrongs done by his family and fighting injustice. As the Green Arrow, he protects his city with the help of former soldier John Diggle (David Ramsey), computer-science expert Felicity Smoak (Emily Bett Rickards), his vigilante-trained sister Thea Queen (Willa Holland), Deputy Mayor Quentin Lance (Paul Blackthorne), brilliant inventor Curtis Holt (Echo Kellum), and his new recruits, street-savvy Rene Ramirez (Rick Gonzalez) and meta-human Dinah Drake (Juliana Harkavy).
Oliver has finally solidified and strengthened his crime-fighting team only to have it threatened when unexpected enemies from his past return to Star City, forcing Oliver to rethink his relationship with each member of his “family”.
Based on the characters from DC, ARROW is from Bonanza Productions Inc. in association with Berlanti Productions and Warner Bros. Television, with executive producers Greg Berlanti (“The Flash,” “Supergirl”), Marc Guggenheim (“DC’s Legends of Tomorrow,” “Eli Stone”), Wendy Mericle (“Desperate Housewives,” “Eli Stone”), Andrew Kreisberg (“The Flash,” “Eli Stone,” “Warehouse 13”) and Sarah Schechter (“The Flash,” “DC’s Legends of Tomorrow”).
MORE ARROW: Arrow’s Emily Bett Rickards And Echo Kellum Explain Sexy Threats / Arrow’s Stephen Amell On How Being A Dad Changes Oliver / Arrow Showrunner Teases How Michael Emmerson’s Role Is Different