I hope you enjoy Malcolm Merlyn on Arrow because he's about to be showing up all over the extended DC TV universe. A new deal with The CW sees John Barrowman as a series regular across all CW/DC shows, meaning he'll continue to both assist and antagonize the efforts of Oliver Queen (Stephen Amell) on his home series Arrow, but will now be expanding his reign of terror to The Flash, DC's Legends of Tomorrow, and possibly even network newcomer Supergirl.
As TV Line reports, Barrowman's new deal makes him a series regular on all of the CW/DC shows executive produced by Greg Berlanti. (I don't expect him to pop up on Riverdale, however, but who knows.) This is similar to the ground-breaking deal locked in by Wentworth Miller earlier this year, one which saw his character Leonard Snart, a.k.a. Captain Cold, becoming a series regular across Berlanti's shows as well.
Since Miller is currently working on the returning Prison Break series, and due to events at the end of the first season of Legends of Tomorrow, Berlanti said that Miller “won’t be part of the team of Legends on board of The Waverider next year, [but] he will have a very active role on the show.” He described this unconventional method of deal-making, which also applies to Barrowman's recent contract, as follows:
“What it really emulates to us is the comic books themselves, where there really are a cast of characters. In success, we hope to continue with other characters finding their way across all the shows.”
As far as Miller is concerned, Season 2 of Legends of Tomorrow is expected to be a somewhat rotating cast of characters, and since it plays with time quite a bit, Snart could conceivably show up whenever and wherever they want him to. As for Merlyn, this guy has made more enemies than friends over the years, so it'll be interesting to see how he's folded into the various shows. He's currently an uneasy ally of Team Arrow, but since that team has been more or less disbanded, we'll have to wait and see just what new alliances are made when the DC TV universe returns this fall. Then again, San Diego Comic-Con attendees might just get a sneak peek!
Get caught up with all things DC TV by taking a look at some of our recent coverage below:
- ‘Arrow’: How the Show Can Return to Greatness By Embracing Its Past
- CW Series Will Now Stream in a Flash on Netflix After Each Season Finale
- John Barrowman on ‘Arrow’, Malcolm Merlyn, and ‘Legends of Tomorrow’
- WB TV Is Bringing 21 Series to Comic-Con Including ‘The Flash,’ ‘Arrow,’ and More
- ‘Arrow’ Season 5 Premiere: Expect the “Most Vicious, Violent One-Shot” in TV History
