‘Arrow’ Season 5 Spoilers: John Barrowman’s Promotion to Cast Regular on all The CW Shows Linked to Key Role in DC’s Largest TV Crossover

‘Arrow’ season 5 will feature John Barrowman’s antagonistic Malcolm Merlyn in a key role. His character has also been promoted as a series regular on The CW’s “Arrowverse” and is speculated to be a big part of the planned crossover between the shows.

According to Comicbook.com, Barrowman’s Malcolm Merlyn a.k.a. Dark Archer has been promoted as a regular on all of The CW’s superhero television shows including ‘Legends of Tomorrow’ and ‘The Flash’. This led to speculation that his character will play a key role in the network’s largest planned crossover event. His promotion is similar to that of Wentworth Miller’s deal for his role as Captain Cold.

During the announcement of Miller’s deal last May, producer Greg Berlanti said, “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.”

Barrowman’s Malcolm Merlyn was first introduced into the series on 'Arrow' season 1. He is a wealthy businessman and father to Tommy, Oliver Queen’s (Stephen Amell) best friend. He was also revealed to be Thea Queen’s (Willa Holland) biological father after an affair

Malcolm was also the first season’s main antagonist. He possesses advanced skills in hand-to-hand combat, archery, swordsmanship, and fencing. He is also excellent in stealth and deception and has a left hand enhanced with cybernetics.

According to IGN, it was speculated that Barrowman’s promotion to cast regular has something to do with the plot prepared for the massive television crossover between ‘Arrow’, ‘The Flash’, ‘Legends of Tomorrow’, and ‘Supergirl’.

Meanwhile, Barrowman revealed more details on Malcolm’s origins during an interview with TV Guide. The 49-year old actor said, "There was not much back-story on Malcolm Merlyn when I started doing him on television... There were really no questions.”

He teased, “If you're talking in the family of royals, which I am a part of… I'm basically one up on [Oliver Queen]." Barrowman is referencing his character’s real name Arthur King.

‘Arrow’ is an action-drama and superhero television series based on the DC character of the same name. It is produced by Greg Berlanti, Marc Guggenheim, and Andrew Kreisberg.

Season 5 was renewed on The CW last March 11. It is scheduled to premiere on October 5, 2016.