Entertainment Weekly reports that "TRON: Legacy" actor Matt Ward has been cast as new "Arrow" villain Simon Lacroix, better known as Komodo, for the series' third season. Ward's character is a "deadly mercenary ... who wreaks havoc in Starling City," and whose introduction -- according to EW -- represents an initiative to connect villains more closely to the season's story arc.

"Yes, he's the villain-of-the-week for the second week of the show, but you'll see that Team Arrow's pursuit of him is part and parcel of a season-long storyline," Marc Guggenheim told EW. "You're going to know what happens to Komodo at the end of the episode, but it will be a little bit tied in better with the season-long mythology than villain-of-the-week episodes have done in the past."

Komodo is a relatively recent creation, first appearing in Jeff Lemire and Andrea Sorrentino's "Green Arrow" #17 in 2013, the duo's first issue on the series. He was one of the main villains during Lemire's run, but was killed at the end of "The Outsiders War." The character will be one of the first of characters created after the inception of the New 52 to make a television appearance.

"Arrow" season three debuts October 8 on The CW.