At a Q&A session today for The CW's new DC Comics show
Arrow, which is based on Oliver Queen/Green Arrow, a new cast addition for the series was revealed. Currie Graham (who was previously in
Criminal Minds) is set to play the "King" of the Royal Flush Gang in the series' sixth episode, titled "Legacies". With the show being a more grounded/realistic take on DC characters (a la Christopher Nolan's
Dark Knight trilogy), it should come as no surprise that the Royal Flush Gang will be given a grounded approach.
“We don’t make any secret of the fact that we took a lot of inspiration from Chris Nolan and how he reconceptualized the world of Batman for the Dark Knight trilogy,” says executive producer Andrew Kreisberg.
“He took somebody like Ra’s Al Ghul, who in the comic books is immortal and uses magic to sustain himself, and created a storyline and characters and sleight of hands, so you felt the DNA of that character in the Liam Neeson portrayal without it actually being a direct copy.”
Additionally, Kreisberg comments on Oliver Queen's relationship with King, as well as confirming that this take on The Huntress (played by Jessica De Gouw) will be straight out of the comic books.
“You’ll see with the Royal Flush Gang, that the dynamic of the family, and the iconography of the playing cards are going to be there, without the supernatural bent. I think we’ve come up with a really clever way to portray them in a more grounded, realistic world,” Kreisberg says.
“The Royal Flush Gang are in episode 6, and we’re really proud of that episode. We think it’s one of the most successful attempts at alchemy that we’ve performed. The Huntress is pretty much straight out of the book because she’s such a grounded character, but the Royal Flush Gang were the most outlandish villains from the comics, but they turned out to be our most grounded villains, and the relationship that Oliver has with King, the leader of the gang, we’re really proud of it. He’s played by Currie Graham, who is a tremendously talented actor.”
Arrow premieres this Wednesday on The CW at 8 PM EST.