The CW has released a new teaser trailer for the upoming fifth season of Arrow, including a first look at Chad L. Coleman of The Walking Dead fame in the role of Tobias Church, a gang leader with a mean-on for the Green Arrow.
His character seems to be masterminding an alliance of criminals, saying “The Green Arrow cannot be stopped, unless we all work together.” Also seen in the trailer: the memorial statue for Black Canary, already reported on when executive producer Marc Guggenheim shared concept art; and a look at a kidnap plot directed at Oliver Queen which is…surprisingly successful.
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You can check out the trailer — recorded from somebody’s TV and uploaded to YouTube — below.
Church has been described as an imposing gangster who is looking to unite the various criminal enterprises in Star City under his own singular command. In casting breakdowns, he was reportedly compared to Idris Elba’s character from The Wire, and indicated that he will set out to fill the void left by Damien Darhk and H.I.V.E.
Church will be the first major organized crime figure since Brick to wreac havoc on Arrow‘s streets. During Season Four, Damien Darhk’s acolytes were more paramilitary forces — terrorists armed with military-grade weapons and backed by magic.
It’s impossible from the quality of image provided to see what the necklace worn by Church looks like, or to speculate as to whether it’s got significance — either to the comics, or in the world of the show. With a move toward playing down the “super” in superheroes this season, though, and recent comments from showrunner Marc Guggenheim that indicate he’s more interested in chasing non-comics readers than worrying about comic book fans, could suggest that Church and other original characters created for Arrow will have little, if anything, to do with the Green Arrow comics.
Arrow returns to the airwaves on October 4 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on The CW. Traval will premiere as Chance in the show’s fifth episode, which will presumably take place on November 1, unless there is a skip week before then.