Actor Navid Negahban, who played the terrorist Abu Nazir on Showtime's hit "Homeland," has been cast as a new villain named Al-Owal in the second season of "Arrow."

According to E! Online, Oliver Queen's new foe has ties to Malcolm Merlyn (played by John Barrowman), the Dark Archer whose scheme left parts of Queen City in ruins, and the League of Assassins, the organization led in the DC Universe by Ra's al Ghul. Strengthening, the connection to Ra's, the character will debut in the fifth episode of Season 2, reportedly titled "The Demon's Head."

Described as "meticulous, driven and deadly," the scimitar-wielding Al-Owal (his name means "The First" in Arabic) will be targeting someone close to Oliver (Stephen Amell).

As "Arrow" heads toward its Oct. 9 season premiere, The CW has cast Caity Lotz as Black Canary, Michael Jai White as Bronze Tiger, Kevin Alejandro as Sebastian Blood, and Bex Taylor-Kaus as Sin. However, it's the arrival of The Flash, in a three-part storyline intended to set off a spinoff series, that most DC Comics fans are looking forward to.

"Honestly, I'm just excited to help be a part of expanding the DC Universe," "Arrow" co-creator Marc Guggenheim recently told CBR News. "I think one of the big thing that appeals to me about comics in general is the idea of the shared universe. It's a lot of fun to be able to do that in television, and growing up one of the things I enjoyed was the 'Six Million Dollar Man' and 'The Bionic Woman' and the way those two shows would interact with each other. We're at least a season away from 'Arrow' interacting with 'The Flash," but the potential for that is really exciting for me."