Neal McDonoguh Compares and Contrasts Arrow and Legends of Tomorrow

After he spent all of last season menacing the heroes on Arrow, Captain America: The First Avenger actor Neal McDonough has made the move to DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, where he’ll reprise his role as Damien Darhk.

Of course, on Arrow, his larger-than-life performance — which he has compared to Gene Hackman’s Lex Luthor in terms of how big he played it — really upset the show’s apple cart. Part of the reason he was so compelling when he first came on the scene was becuase he was so wildly different than the rest of the show.

On Legends, that kind of character (and performance) is really just the temperature in the room. It’s where everyone seems to be, and as such, McDonough told ComicBook.com at the Arrow 100th Episode party last weekend that the new series “has been a ball,” and that The CW’s DC shows are “just great to be a part of.”

“Legends is a different show; it’s a little bit lighter,” McDonough said. “Now with Barrowman this year — the two of us and Matt, we’re having so much fun being really evil, but in a fun way. Arrow is a different show; it was the greatest experience of my life.”

McDonough’s Darhk has been played as supremely confident, almost to a fault — and that’s going to continue. Little things like the historical record showing that he already lost in 2016 doesn’t change a thing for him.

“Why does he eventually lose?” the actor mused. “That’s not necessarily true now. They found a time machine, they picked me up in the ’40s and I’m off to the races now. There’s no end to Damien Darhk.”

Some may remember that last season on Arrow, one of Darhk’s big weaknesses was his wife Ruve and their daughter. Their presence was a distraction, and their well-being his greatest concern. Ultimately the loss of Ruve pushed Darhk completely over the edge, and he started trying to bolster his death-fueled powers with nuclear missiles aimed at metropolitan areas.

Of course, in the ’40s, he hadn’t even met Ruve yet.

“Not having my wife at that point, and not knowing who my wife is — I don’t know that I’m going to get married, I don’t know that I’m going to murder hundreds fo thousands of people, none of that stuff — I don’t want to say he’s a little more evil, but I also don’t have as much to fight for, so I’m more of a loose cannon, which is fun to play,” McDonough said.

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