"Arrow" will shoot into season 4 soon and, needless to say, fans are trying to put their finger on the identity of the next baddie to bring trouble in Oliver Queen's complicated life. For now, the individual that fits the bill to be the next big rogue is someone named Damien Darhk.
Darhk has all the reasons and the means to mess with Ollie. The previous episode has already referenced the villain when Ra's Al Ghul told the newly transformed Oliver that Damien Darhk was also poised to become the heir to the demon.
Ra's revealed that Damien, who was a previous member of the League, ran off with his followers and the Lazarus Pit (the waters that brought back Thea to life and prolongs that of Ra's). He goes on to do the same things the League does with the help of "a hive of agents devoted to his own agenda."
Many believe that this was the show's subtle way of foreshadowing the next evil group Oliver has to deal with. While H.I.V.E. was already broached in previous episodes of the series (the organization ordered the murder of Diggle's brother Andy in the hands of Deadshot), little is known about it.
David Ramsey, who plays John Diggle in the series, has already mentioned the dawn of the new party crashing Oliver's city during a chat with E! Online.
"From my understanding, H.I.V.E. is going to be a big part of next season's big baddie," the actor revealed. "We are going to delve right into why H.I.V.E. hired Deadshot to kill Andy and what H.I.V.E. is all about to begin with. There will be a lot of Diggle's connection to H.I.V.E. next season, so stay tuned."
It is widely believed that Damien Darhk is the leader of H.I.V.E. and his skills make him a formidable one at that. The villain is a tech mastermind and he is so good that even the CIA and the FBI can't find nor follow his trace. His deftness in the field may have rubbed off on Felicity (yes, Felicity), who could be Damien's daughter.
Ramsey may have also prefigured Damien's connection to the tech buff in Team Arrow. It was already established that Felicity's father abandoned her and her mother (probably the same way Ra's abandoned his loved ones) and that he is an incredibly smart felon.
"I will say that season 1 didn't set up the big bad of season 2 and season 2 didn't set up the big bad of season 3, at least as far as the season finales were concerned," series executive Marc Guggenheim said, adding that "we'll probably go further than we've ever gone in a season finale to give you a sense as to who the big bad of the next season will be. But we still have a lot to do with Ra's and the League of Assassins."
It looks like "Arrow" fans will see Damien Darhk in action soon. So should he be the next villain to tackle, the series is successful in transitioning from its current arc. For now, fans can watch how it all ends in "My Name is Oliver Queen," which will air on May 13.
