From the day superheroes have shown up on the big and small screen, fans have had an opinion on the casting. Sometimes it’s so perfect, no one can really fault it -- this is the Christopher Reeve effect. Then there are those times fans go crazy, only to be proven completely wrong. See Michael Keaton. Basically, it’s anyone’s guess on how audiences will react to superhero casting. With a never ending amount of TV shows and movies, along with the ease of social media, fans have no problem letting everyone know which actors they like and which ones they could do without.
In the case of The CW’s Arrow, it started the network’s superhero franchise, so casting decisions on that show affected other aspects of the Arrowverse. Someone in the Arrow casting department made the awesome choice to give us Grant Gustin as Barry Allen. Some of the choices were spot on, while others are more questionable. This is in no way a knock against the actors playing these roles. It just means they weren’t the best choice to embody that character. So, it’s time to take a look at the eight most perfectly cast roles on Arrow and seven that need recasting.
15 PERFECT: JOHN BARROWMAN AS MALCOLM MERLYN
Fans of sci-fi/fantasy TV were instantly excited to see John Barrowman join the cast of Arrow during the first season. For the first part of the show, we watched Moira Queen meet with a mysterious man she was clearly afraid of. She discussed knowing about the shipwreck and a nefarious plot in they were involved in. Finally it was revealed that Barrowman was playing Moira’s mystery partner who turned out to be Tommy’s father Malcolm Merlyn.
Barrowman was known for his captivating and hilarious portrayal of Captain Jack Harkness in Doctor Who and Torchwood. We hadn’t really seen him as a villain before. However, he immediately drew us in by using all that Jack Harkness charm while simultaneously ruining people’s lives and unapologetically killing those who stood in his way. He was so great in the role, he was kept around long after being outed to the world as a bad guy, even becoming Ra’s al Ghul for awhile. He was able to redeem himself by sacrificing his life to save his daughter Thea. Of course, we never saw him actually die and time travel is a thing, so don’t be surprised to see him pop back into town at some point.
14 RECAST: ECHO KELLUM AS CURTIS HOLT/MISTER TERRIFIC
Michael Holt/Mister Terrific is a genius, who also happens to hold several black belts and is an Olympic gold medal decathlete. Like all superheroes he suffers a great tragedy which becomes the catalyst for him wanting to make the world a better place. His intellect gives him a confidence that makes him believe he can solve any problem. When Arrow decided to bring the character to Star City in season four, some of his personality quirks were altered and his name was changed to Curtis Holt.
Curtis was introduced as Felicity’s awkward yet brilliant co-worker at Palmer Tech. He showed up to help her with particularly difficult tech problems, eventually learning about Team Arrow. He was the comic relief that was fun in small doses. Casting actor Echo Kellum meant producers were definitely trying to add some humor to the often overly serious show. A great idea. However, Kellum’s over exaggerated characterization can get in the way of whatever is supposed to be happening in the scene. Of course, this isn’t all on Kellum, as he can only play the material and direction that’s given to him, but at this point it doesn’t matter, because Curtis has become a distraction.
13 PERFECT: WILLA HOLLAND AS THEA QUEEN
One of the toughest parts about watching the first season of Arrow was seeing Oliver try and re-enter his old life. The world didn’t stand still because he was dead. His sister Thea had grown up into a teenager. At first she was a petulant, spoiled girl, who couldn’t see past her own pain. It was Willa Holland’s emotional pull that let us know there was more to Thea and we needed to give her a chance. It would have been so easy to make her the stereotypical debutante, heiress. However, Holland always gave her a hidden depth that hinted at what was underneath the facade.
In the years since, viewers have had the chance to watch Thea grow into a hero in her on right. She’s been through emotional upheaval, devastating loss and heartbreaking manipulation only to come out stronger on the other side. We also can’t overstate how important the chemistry is between Holland and Stephen Amell, as his relationship with Thea is one of the things that kept Oliver grounded while he was racing around town putting arrows in people. At this point, she’s only been gone a few weeks, but you can feel how big a hole her leaving town left in Oliver’s life and the show.
12 RECAST: JIMMY AKINGBOLA AS BARON REITER
It’s always tricky when live action versions of comic book villains are adapted. There’s a question if they lean into the ridiculous nature of comic books like Jack Nicholson in Batman or try a more grounded, yet still haunting portrayal like Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight. Obviously, there are miles of road between those two performances, but the one thing a bad guy never wants to be is boring. Ideally the audience will hate you so much they love you. For example, Tom Hiddleston’s Loki. Or in the case of Arrow, Slade Wilson.
In the season four flashbacks, Oliver returned to Lian Yu to take down Baron Reiter. At first it seemed like he was just conducting a secret drug operation on the deserted island, but what he was really after was a mystical idol that would make him practically invincible. Amazingly, it was the same one Damien Darhk was using in the present day. Unfortunately, Reiter never became interesting enough to care about his motivations or backstory. Some of the fault lays with the writers, but perhaps it would have helped to have someone more fascinating to draw viewers in. Among season four’s many issues, the flashbacks were the biggest problem.
11 PERFECT: COLTON HAYNES AS ROY HARPER/ARSENAL
When it was announced that The CW was doing a Green Arrow TV series, fans wondered how long it would be before Roy Harper/Arsenal would appear. Turns out, they didn’t have to wait long. In season one, Roy showed up as a thief who stole Thea’s purse, however, they eventually started dating. Oliver was understandably disapproving until Roy was kidnapped by a murderer and he ended up saving his life. Feeling indebted and admiration, Roy searched for the Arrow, then began gathering intel for him. Once he was infected with Mirakuru, Oliver knew he had to train Roy to keep him safe. This led to him joining the team as Arsenal.
Though he was supposed to be a criminal when we met him, Colton Haynes made Roy instantly likeable. Unlike the other members of the team, he really was just a regular kid, who got unexpectedly drawn into their world. This made him the most relatable member of Team Arrow. Haynes never let us forget Roy’s everyman status while he was flying around Star City saving the day. His recent return was a reminder of how big a hole he left on the show when he departed. Fortunately, it was announced that he would be returning as a series regular for season seven. There are a lot of aspects of Roy’s story that we’re looking forward to seeing Haynes tackle.
10 RECAST: J.R. RAMIREZ AS TED GRANT/WILDCAT
One of Arrow’s biggest problems, one that continues to linger by the way, is the introduction of comic book characters just for the sake of having them on the show. They pop up in a few episodes, make a thinly veiled comic reference, then either die or are just never seen again. Ted Grant/Wildcat became a victim of this phenomenon back in season three. He is introduced as Laurel’s boxing instructor and friend. She goes to him to train so she can become the new Canary. She gets beat up in the beginning, so maybe he’s not that great of a teacher. Later we find out he was a vigilante in the Glades before Oliver came back as the Hood.
It’s not that J.R. Ramirez was bad for the role, he just never quite had the authenticity to keep us interested in his and Laurel’s storyline. He always seemed like a badly drawn Rocky caricature. He played all the boxer from the bad neighborhood stereotypes, forever out of place in the superhero world. Even when he had on the suit, we just couldn’t really buy him as a vigilante. Of course, his character disappeared after a few episodes so we didn’t have to worry about getting attached.
9 PERFECT: JOSH SEGARRA AS ADRIAN CHASE/PROMETHEUS
Every season of a superhero TV series is usually defined by its villain. It’s why season one of The Flash, season two of Arrow and season four of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. are considered so great. Damien Darhk cast a long shadow for whoever followed him. He was so good, he was brought back to terrorize the rest of the Arrowverse. For its fifth season, Arrow had to rebound strong and it did with Prometheus. The season started with gang leader Tobias Church taking over Star City’s crime families, setting him up as a major player. When he was killed by the mysterious archer we had seen a few times already, we knew Prometheus was the real big bad. It was some time before he was unmasked, but when it was revealed that DA Adrian Chase was the one making Oliver’s life hell, things got very interesting.
Until his secret came out, we assumed Chase would be revealed to be Vigilante, because that’s who he is in the comics. Josh Segarra had very subtly given glimpses of the darkness beneath the law abiding lawyer, but when he became Prometheus he turned everything up several notches. His hatred and reluctant admiration of Oliver was always perfectly balanced with his full psychopathic nature. It was a revelatory performance that goes in the Hall of Fame of TV villains, made so much better since we never saw it coming.
8 RECAST: JESSICA DE GOUW AS HELENA BERTINELLI/HUNTRESS
As part of the Birds of Prey with Black Canary and Batgirl, The Huntress is one of DC’s most popular female characters. Her origin in the comics follows her as she seeks revenge against the rival mob family responsible for her parents’ death. She then decides to fight crime to keep others from suffering like she did. She doesn’t have the rules of other heroes, she uses any means necessary to get the job done.
During season one, the show was using some Batman rogues, so it was no surprise when they brought on Helena Bertinelli. In this version, she wanted revenge on her father for murdering her fiance. Seeing himself in her, Oliver tried to train her to use her skills to help people, but unfortunately her anger had made her unstable. We can’t really be sure if it was the writing or Jessica de Gouw’s performance, but either way nothing about this characterization of Huntress worked. She literally had one emotion at all times. She was just perpetually mad, which does a disservice to the character and gets boring for fans to watch. She was last seen fleeing town in season two after Oliver and Diggle had thwarted her latest plan to kill her father. There are persistent rumors that Huntress may return at some point. Though, if she does, let’s hope they find a way to redeem her this time around.
7 PERFECT: NEAL MCDONOUGH AS DAMIEN DARHK
The Arrowverse is known for taking liberties with some of its character adaptations, especially when it comes to villains. This is understandable, as the more over the top qualities of comic book bad guys wouldn’t fit in the somewhat real world of the TV series. However, in the case of Damien Darhk, they made him more of a comic book character on the show than he was originally. Darhk started out as a scientific genius foe of the Titans. He was a crime boss with ties to H.I.V.E., who used his advanced tech to make it look like he had magical powers.
On Arrow, Neal McDonough was cast as an adult Darhk who trained with the League of Assassins before betraying Ra’s al Ghul and forming H.I.V.E. He definitely used his magic to consistent outwit Team Arrow. McDonough brought a glee to his menace that other Arrow villains hadn’t showcased and it made him endlessly interesting. His perfect balance of comedy and evil kept viewers so captivated producers kept him around to cause havoc on Legends of Tomorrow. He may have sacrificed himself to save his daughter, but we’ve seen him die several times already and he always comes back, so we know we haven’t seen the last of McDonough’s hilarious take on Damien Darhk.
6 RECAST: DYLAN NEAL AS DR. ANTHONY IVO
The hard truth about comic books is not every character needs to be adapted into a live action version. While some are surprisingly better, most should remain on the page where they belong. This was especially true of Dr. Anthony Ivo, Arrow’s adaptation of Professor Ivo. In the comics, the scientist’s obsession with avoiding death was so intense, he devoted his life to perfecting artificial intelligence, creating Amazo.
During season two’s flashbacks, we learned how Sara survived the Queen’s Gambit and ended up on a ship called the Amazo working for the crazed Dr. Ivo. He was obsessed with finding an ancient Japanese submarine, which carried a drug called Mirakuru. This was thought to give someone super strength and invulnerability. Sadly, the side effect was insanity. Of course, Ivo didn’t care about any of this, he just wanted to discover its secrets and become the scientist who made a better human. Dylan Neal never played him as anything other than a run of the mill mad scientist bad guy, who has one motivation and is destined for nothing but death. The character just didn’t work. Casting a soap opera heartthrob didn’t help matters either. He wasn’t exactly striking fear in anyone’s hearts. It was never believable that both Slade and Oliver could be taken down by him.
5 PERFECT: COLIN SALMON AS WALTER STEELE
One of the great mysteries of Arrow is what happened to Walter Steele? For the unfamiliar, Walter was Moira’s husband when Oliver returned home from the island. He was very close to Thea and later Oliver. Malcolm had him kidnapped to keep Moira in line. After all her schemes and lies came to light he left her and they were divorced. He showed up in season two to help Moira run for mayor, then was never seen again. Last we heard he was running Starling National Bank.
Colin Salmon as Walter was one of season one’s highlights. He brought gravitas to the show when it was still finding its footing. The British actor’s wide and varied resume includes playing Charles Robinson in the Pierce Brosnan Bond films, as well as Dr. Moon in the Doctor Who two parter Silence in the Library and Forest of the Dead. No doubt these roles prepared him for the unpredictable stories of the superhero world. He was so perfect as the only sane person in the Queen family, that we wonder why he hasn’t shown up again to offer some words of encouragement as obstacles have continually mounted in front of Oliver and Thea. Salmon always played Walter with a twinkle in his eye that said he knew exactly who Oliver was and what he was up to. It would be nice to see the series recapture some of its season one magic with a return appearance from an original fan favorite.
4 RECAST: MATT NABLE AS RA’S AL GHUL
Since Arrow premiered a full two years before Gotham, it had access to some Batman characters that weren’t being used on TV. From the minute we learned Sara was in the League as Assassins and her ex-girlfriend was Nyssa al Ghul, we knew it wouldn’t be long before her father Ra’s al Ghul made an appearance. In fact, producers decided to make him the main villain of season three. Under the guise of wanting revenge for Sara’s death, he chased down Malcolm Merlyn. Needing to protect Thea, Oliver challenged Ra’s to a sword fight. Of course, Oliver lost, but survived leading Ra’s to believe that he was destined to become the League’s new leader.
No matter who has played him, Ra’s al Ghul has always had an intimidating presence. He’s an immortal assassin who no one can defeat in battle. A brilliant strategist and leader, he inspires unquestioned loyalty in his followers. Even Batman has a reluctant respect and admiration for him. Matt Nable definitely had the action and fight scenes covered, but he never elicited the powerful aura required of Ra’s al Ghul. As it turns out, Katrina Law as Nyssa was more mysterious and interesting than her father. This particular version of Ra’s just never had the strength fans expect of the character.
3 PERFECT: MANU BENNETT AS SLADE WILSON/DEATHSTROKE
As the saying goes, every great hero is defined by their greatest villain. For TV’s Oliver Queen it was Slade Wilson for a very long time. We first met Slade in season one as another lost soul on Lian Yu. As a Australian special agent he taught Oliver how to fight and survive. He was his mentor and only friend, until Slade succumbed to Mirakuru and went mad. He held Oliver responsible for the death of his love Shado and wanted to exact revenge for this. He spent years devising a plan to make him suffer. Slade used his operatives to take over Queen Consolidated, bankrupt the family and bring his Mirakuru army to Starling City to destroy it.
Following his work in Spartacus, we were already fans of Manu Bennett, so his casting as Slade Wilson felt perfect. He took us on a beautiful journey through Slade’s emotions. From the despair of being stranded, to falling in love, through loss and insanity. And this was all in the flashbacks. In the present day story, he managed to fully embrace Slade’s madness, while still giving us glimpses of the man we originally met. When he made his return in seasons five and six, we got to see a once again sane Slade try to reconcile his horrible acts with a desire to repent and find some measure of peace. It was a masterclass in a redemption arc.
2 RECAST: CYNTHIA ADDAI ROBINSON AS AMANDA WALLER
Strong black female characters are sadly few and far between in comic books. One of these rare unicorns we can always count on making things interesting is Amanda Waller. Though she is often mischaracterized as a villain, she only ever has the greater good in mind. Waller is an operative who understands that the world is a messy place and hard decisions need to be made sometimes. She’s one of the few people willing to make those choices and not feel bad about them later. As the government agent in charge of the Suicide Squad, she is often at odds with the Justice League and its various heroes. Without having any special abilities or wearing a costume she is usually still the most powerful person in the room.
Waller first appeared in season two as the director of ARGUS, the agency Diggle’s ex-wife Lyla works for. She knows all about Team Arrow and sometimes works with them when their missions intersect with her priorities. In season three we find out she facilitated Oliver’s training in torture and firearms. There’s a certain confidence that Amanda Waller uses to own every room she’s in and Cynthia Addai Robinson never made us feel that. She had a decidedly different take on the character that didn’t line up with what fans were familiar with. It never felt like the true Amanda Waller. In season four she was killed off as part of the show’s DCEU purge that also took Deadshot.
1 PERFECT: STEPHEN AMELL AS OLIVER QUEEN/GREEN ARROW
No matter what else is involved, superhero projects live or die based on who is cast as the lead. Would those first Superman films be as beloved without Christopher Reeve? Probably not. There’s no way anyone would have bought into Tim Burton’s wild take on Batman without Michael Keaton anchoring everything. For Arrow, whether or not we buy into the idea of a playboy turned vigilante is all on the shoulders of Stephen Amell and he delivers in the very first episode.
From the moment we see him running through Lian Yu in his bad wig, we’re hooked. Then he gets back home and we watch him deftly switch between aloof party boy and hardened killer. In the middle of all that we become a part of his heartbreaking journey to fit back into a life that has painfully moved on without him. Amell must presumably leave bread crumbs about all of Oliver’s secrets from the past five years. The ones we will watch unravel in the coming seasons. And he has to do a lot of that without a shirt on, so bonus points. As the series has progressed we’ve watched him consistently pull back the layers of Oliver’s life, each time finding a new level of emotion that we had not previously experienced. Six seasons in, it’s hard to imagine that anyone else would have kept us on the edge of our seats all this time.