As I sat back to begin my work tonight (3/3/15) I was baffled by the article I saw when I refreshed my Facebook feed, "Damian Wayne is Arrow's Season 4 Villain" an article posted on Comic Book Movie. I immediately dropped my pencil and clicked the link...only to read an article that implied next to nothing about Damian Wayne besides the writers own inclination. From there...I jumped to the original interview, which is quoted below:
Question: Anything cool coming up on Arrow? —Julie
Ausiello: The show’s Season 3 finale will introduce a major, formidable, fierce new foe for Oliver, and his reign of terror will continue well into Season 4. The mysterious character is being referred to internally as “Damian Dark,” which got Matt Mitovich and I (but mostly MM) pulling up and skimming the Wiki page of one Damian Wayne. Get it? Damian Wayne. Son of the Dark Knight. They’d probably have to tweak the Bruce Wayne connection, but it’s a plausible theory, no?
The writer of the initial TVLine article seemed to think hm....who is the only Damian I know...it must be him....In my own opinion...this was and still is FAR from a sound theory. I thought to myself...we have this WHOLE H.I.V.E. storyline we have yet to uncover and discuss...surely that must be the plot of Season 4.
Introducing Damian Wayne, without Bruce, without Talia, and making him an adult able to face Oliver...makes the character almost NOTHING like Damian Wayne. I thought to myself... maybe "Damian Dark" refers to how Damian was upon his first introduction into the world of comics, dark, twisted and lost. Much like referring to someone as having "Grayson Charm" doesn't mean Dick Grayson...it means someone has similar characteristics to Dick Grayson's whit and cool charm....another misleading and biased CBM article.
I then considered the avenue of ... what if they made Connor Hawke the next Damian Wayne...but even then that seemed idiotic to me. I thought to myself "Connor Hawke is like what 8 in this universe... if they are following the same general age trend...and acting as if Talia doesn't exist (along with Bruce) ... if Damian somehow was some magic lovechild he would be like 1. Clearly it isn't Connor because Damian was born from a tube...so they could age him to where he was needed...we know for a fact Connor is a healthy 8 year old living in Central City.
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AND THEN CAME "Scott Klonowski" Facebook user, Arrow fan, and long time Teen Titan's reader
He said...YES the character was "Damian Dark"...but the writer simply misunderstood the spelling...it...the character that was being referred to was not "Damian Dark" but "Damien Darhk" (pronounced the same). But wait...who is Damien Darhk?
Baby-faced Damien Darhk was a mysterious, elusive, and dangerous figure. He claimed to be a major player in America's underworld and certainly had some connection to the criminal organization H.I.V.E. He also seemed to have had access to unique high-tech equipment that has never been used by any known organization. Darhk was considered to be a major criminal by the C.I.A. and F.B.I.; however, their investigations revealed no hard evidence against him. He was a wi-fi fiend, staying in touch with associates by the very latest forms of mass communication. What particularly baffled investigators was his apparent youth; Damien seemed to be in his early twenties yet was already well-established and well-connected. While opposing one incarnation of the Teen Titans, Darhk was shot to death by Vandal Savage.
Another source suggests his end was different...
What particularly baffled investigators was his apparent youth. Darkh seemed to be only in his early 20's, but already he was well established and connected. While opposing one incarnation of the Teen Titans, Darhk was stabbed and killed by Lady Vic . But his blood mingled with HIVE Mistress Adaline Kane, leaving himself immortal. His current whereabouts after his 'death' are unknown....
So...Damien Darhk:
1) Genius ... something we have yet to see from a big season villain, one who uses his BRAIN as a tool
2) H.I.V.E. Connection ...
3) Possible immortality connection to tie to the Pit?
4) Concise comic backstory...but not much! Something the Arrow writers LOVE ... comic book backstory...but backstory that can be expanded and molded due to the character being lesser known!
So is the Season 4 villain going to be Damian Wayne? Probably not...because ti just doesn't make sense...like at all. Could it be Damien Darhk? ... Chances of that... are MUCH higher...but what do you think?