Arrow: Is Adrian Chase The Vigilante Already? Actor Josh Segarra Weighs In

In the season 5 premiere of Arrow, Felicity Smoak showed Oliver Queen an image of somebody wearing ski goggles. Supposedly a police artist’s sketch of an anonymous vigilante working in Star City, Team Arrow haven’t mentioned him again since — although longtime comic book readers recognized him.

The image was that of Adrian Chase — better known as Vigilante, a character created by Marv Wolfman and George Perez back in the ’80s.

Vigilante in the comics is a former New York district attorney who’s set on the path of justice after his family is killed by the mob. The CW describes him similarly: Chase is “Star City’s new district attorney and an ally of Mayor Oliver Queen (Stephen Amell), who aims to clean up the streets through the legal system.”

While in the comics, Vigilante tends to be fairly similar to Wild Dog in his aggressive, brutal approach to fighting crime, he’s a more complex and layered character. Chase is only one of the people to use the name Vigilante; he would eventually be consumed with guilt over his own abandonment of the rule of law, and would take his own life. Later, another Vigilante would take his place — and yet another debuted today in the pages of Vigilante: Southland #1.

But after seeing Team Arrow in action tonight, Chase said that he had previously thought nothing good could come from people in masks. It seemed like in any other show, this would be the moment that Chase might be inspired to take up a costume and go fight crime after hours.

So if tonight is Vigilante’s genesis, what’s the deal with that police sketch?

We asked Josh Segarra, who plays Chase, to clarify.

“That’s what I think is going to be interesting, is what parts of the comic are we going to get to put on the show?” He responded when ComicBook.com asked him about the police sketch. “I know the answer to that but the audience don’t. But that’s what been great is that we’re trying to keep it as much as we can in that world, but also keep it exciting because I don’t want any plot twists to be a thing where people are expecting something and don’t get them. That’s always sad, when you think something is going to be great and then it’s a letdown. So I’m hoping that we get the right pieces along the way.”

We also asked Segarra about Chase’s depression and mental illness, but all he could say was “That’s a good question. Why isn’t he showing his pain? That will be answered.”

He said that while it would be a while before he got to suit up as Vigilante, he “a thousand percent” pawed through the script for “Invasion!” — the show’s hundredth episode — to see what part Adrian got to play alongside Supergirl, The Flash, and the rest of the DC/CW superheroes.

“The biggest question that I have for myself as an actor is ‘why does this person become the person that they are?’” Segarra said. “So what’s going to be hard is that in the middle of the season I get to introduce Vigilante. So now I’m getting to tell that backstory and we get to tell the biggest pieces and get to show him becoming who he is before episode 7.”

Arrow airs Wednesday nights at 8 p.m. ET/PT on The CW.