Arrow's third season is looking like it'll be very exciting. Not only will we have a new location for the flashbacks (Hong Kong), but it looks like the upcoming episodes are bringing a whole lot of familiar faces to its world and hopefully, they'll be put to good use (unlike Constantine Drakon... sorry, still bummed about that one). They've teased Ra's al Ghul, Ray Palmer, and we know Katana will help train Oliver Queen, a.k.a. Green Arrow, but an especially appealing bit of news is that a standout villain from the New 52 will appear! Many of us loved Jeff Lemire, Andrea Sorrentino, and Marcelo Maiolo's time with Ollie (if you haven't read it, go collect the trade right now -- it's called The Kill Machine) and they brought a very cool new villain into the picture: Simon Lacroix, a.k.a. Komodo. Entertainment Weekly announced that actor Matt Ward has landed the role and we're sure a number of you are saying, "Okay, so who's Komodo...?" Well, we're here to tell you all about this intimidating villain and even share some thoughts about how we think he'll be brought to the CW show.
*Contains spoilers from Green Arrow's TV series and his New 52 comic*
Lacroix is a power hungry and thoroughly evil dude. Just like Oliver, he's an ordinary human who happens to be very gifted with a bow and also has some solid talent in hand-to-hand combat. He can't take on Batman in an unarmed fight, but he's good enough to give Ollie all kinds of trouble.
Unlike Oliver, Lacroix wasn't born wealthy and, thanks to some hard work, he was able to eventually work his way up Queen Industries' corporate ladder. He joined Oliver's father, Robert Queen, as his protege and the two searched for a mystical arrow -- an artifact that grants true enlightenment and possibly even immortality -- which belongs to the leader of the Arrow clan. "An Arrow clan? Huh?" Long story short, there's a group called the Outsiders and it consists of several clans (arrow, sword, spear, fist, ax, and shield). The clans are now divided, but we don't need to discuss those details here. Each one has a leader and Robert was aiming to become the head of the arrow clan. The Outsiders knew Lacroix isn't exactly the kindest fellow around and he craves power, so they promised him authority and said he could become the leader if he killed Robert. During this time, the two were being trained by Shado and she and Robert fell in love with her. They even had a child named Emiko.
Komodo "kills" Robert Queen (he intended to murder Queen and thought he put an arrow in the man, but it's eventually revealed he was fooled by a character named Magus). Komodo raises Emiko as his own child and later on brainwashes her into thinking Oliver's the enemy. As for Shado, he gave her to the evil Count Vertigo (a character who's also appearing in Season 3). Komodo and Oliver clash several times and during one encounter Ollie stabs an arrow through the villain's left eye. It's an embarrassing defeat, but Komodo's plans were far from over. The leader of the spear clan, Golgotha, took charge of the Outsiders and came up with a diabolical plan that would give them more power and influence in the world. Being the arrogant and selfish man that he is, Komodo killed Golgotha and took control of the group. However, Oliver and several allies of his own (which included a few clans) were able to prevent Komodo's twisted plan. Having learned the truth, it's Emiko that fatally strikes Komodo with an arrow.
Now, if you're following Arrow, you know there's several plot points here that can't or probably shouldn't be used in the show. For example, Oliver witnessed his father's death and Shado has a totally different story on the island. Quite a few of us would love to see Emiko Queen join the show (she's very similar to the lovable Damian Wayne), but seeing as Oliver already has a half-sister with a twisted father -- Thea Queen and Malcom Merlyn -- that storyline would feel like repeat territory for the series. Keeping Komdo's strong connection to Oliver's father is translatable, though. Let's say the TV show's Komodo is poor, works hard in the company, catches Robert's eye and the executive takes him under his wing and helps him out. Boom, connection to Oliver established and he could even loathe Oliver for essentially being a rich playboy who never worked hard prior to the island. However, seeing as Robert is apparently an honest businessman and has no connection to any of the story's other organizations, he wouldn't be able to take Komodo on a crazy journey and train with Shado. But, seeing as Robert's good friends with Malcom, it's possible Malcom also took interest in Simon and brought him to the League of Assassins. This would take place before Merlyn left, of course. Considering Ra's al Ghul is the "big bad" in Season 3 and he'll probably want Oliver taken out, he could he send Komodo -- a man who dislikes Oliver -- to do the dirty work for him. Or perhaps he's still aligned with Merlyn and he's sent to kill Oliver, that way the hero doesn't interfere with Thea's training. No matter how the two end up in a conflict, their battle could end with a nod to the comic (see below). It follows Oliver's no-kill policy, after all.
Executive producer Marc Guggenheim called Komodo the "villain-of-the-week" for the second week of the show, so it's clear they'll have to make some big changes to the character's story to make sure it can be told in just one episode. That said, Guggenheim added, "it will be a little bit tied in better with the season-long mythology than the villain-of-the-week episodes have done in the past." That supports Komodo having a link to the bigger picture and, based on what we know about Season 3, that would point to him working with Ra's al Ghul or Malcom Merlyn.
It looks like the upcoming season's narrative has plenty going on (new flashback with Katana and Amanda Waller, relationship with Felicity, Ray Palmer, evil Thea, Laurel possibly becoming Black Canary, Ra's al Ghul), so it's safe to say we won't see the Outsiders' plot being incorporated. However, Komodo has what it takes to be a rather awesome villain-of-the-week. He can despise Oliver's luxurious upbringing, challenge him in both ranged and melee combat, and work for a more prominent villain yet his personality could still show signs of wanting more power. When all is said and done, we just hope the character is still breathing and left with some potential for more stories down the road. We don't expect him to be a significant part of the show, but the foe had a noteworthy role in the comics and we're hoping his episode does the character justice.
Arrow returns October 8 on The CW.
Source: Entertainment Weekly
How do you think they'll use the villain in the TV show? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below.