'Arrow' Crossover’s LaMonica Garrett Teases Anti-Monitor’s ‘Pure Evil’ Plan, The Monitor’s Backstory

LaMonica Garrett is playing two massive parts in the Arrowverse right now. The actor is portraying both the Monitor and the Anti-Monitor across “Arrow,” “The Flash” and all The CW’s DC TV shows, and he’s a pivotal part of this year’s epic crossover, “Crisis on Infinite Earths.” The actor spoke to International Business Times and teased what to expect from the Anti-Monitor as well as when the Monitor’s backstory will be revealed .

Garrett told IBT that while the Monitor is generally pretty stone-faced, his backstory will reveal a different side. “During the Crisis you'll see that whole facade break,” he teased. “You'll see another side of him that I was very excited to read and to look forward to playing it. And I think the audience will understand a lot more what makes him tick.”

The star also noted why the villainous Anti-Monitor is nothing like Thanos from "Avengers: Endgame," and he promised that audiences will be getting some much-needed answers soon.

Read his Q&A with IBT below to find out more:

IBT: How much are you kept in the dark at this point? Did you get to know at the beginning of this season what The Monitor's true intentions are and what his end game is?

Garrett: I had no idea all the way up until I got all the scripts for the shows for “Crisis”... And I would talk to Stephen [Amell, who plays the Green Arrow/Oliver Queen]. Stephen, like most of the leads of the shows, they kind of know what's going on, especially Stephen's character because he plays a huge part in this being the last season for "Arrow" and all.

So he's like, "Yeah, have you heard anything about what's going on?" I'm like, "No man, tell me." Like I'm always the last to know, and so it was kind of funny.

When I read all the scripts, I was blown away. It was amazing. But I learn about this stuff in layers pretty much with the rest of the cast.

IBT: Should audiences trust The Monitor? He's now telling both Barry and Oliver that they have to die in order to save everyone.

Garrett: Yeah, he is a bad news bear. But I love the fact that they pulled what The Monitor did from the comic books and brought it to the screen and that's kind of what he did in "Crisis." And even before "Crisis," the original in 1985, when they first introduced him in Teen Titans, he was doing bad things in his head for a better cause. He was a weapons dealer to villains and super villains. He was doing things that were shady, but you saw his end game in the end. So I think that's the part where we're going to watch "Crisis" and learn more about him and why he did this and who he really is.

IBT: It sounds like you really dove into the comics to do research on this, didn't you?

Garrett: Yeah. Well, I was really familiar with who he was and what the comics were, "Crisis," before getting the role. So when they told me I was playing The Monitor, I went back and read "Crisis" all over again and that was before I knew they were even going to do "Crisis" for the next crossover. They didn't announce that until the end of the "Elseworlds" crossover last year. And I didn't know until I saw it on the screen just like everybody else. And then my phone started ringing like, "Oh wow. They're really doing it." And so the actor, the person, I was like, "Oh wow, I get more work. I'm not unemployed." And just thinking about the character, I'm like, "Oh, this is going to be huge." Because I knew The Monitor plays a huge part in the whole "Crisis" series.

IBT: You said that we are going to learn a little bit more about The Monitor's backstory and why he's involved in all of this. What was your reaction when you learned that?

Garrett: It was real exciting. You'll get to see a different side of The Monitor... He's morally ambiguous, so he plays things pretty stoic. He has an intention. He goes after that and that's just what it is. He's not mad about it. He's not sad or happy. This is his job and this is what he does.

But during the Crisis you'll see that whole facade break. You'll see another side of him that I was very excited to read and to look forward to playing it. And I think the audience will understand a lot more what makes him tick. And they still might feel the same way about him or they might have some empathy for him, but it's something that's different and I was excited about that.

IBT: If The Monitor is this all powerful being, then why can't he get these items himself? Why does he need the help of the superheroes?

Garrett: Because he knows he's not going to be able to defeat The Anti-Monitor by himself. So he needs not just the item that he's telling Oliver and I'm sure he has other heroes that [are] trying to get all this stuff together. He knows he needs a team of superheroes. And getting the items is not just getting those items, but it's a process of coming together. So he's accumulating all this for the process of coming together. He needs the team. And it's hard to tiptoe around that question because I know when the Crisis comes, he's going to be blatantly honest about why everything happens the way it happened and the audience will understand his motives.

IBT: So what can we expect from The Anti-Monitor? I saw the poster and he looks very different.

Garrett: He has one goal. I think what drives ascene and what makes a great scene is two people with highly different objectives going after their objectives--and that's The Monitor and The Anti-Monitor. And they're in with like good, evil, light, dark--whatever you can think that are polar opposites, that's who they are. And I think those two going towards each other for this big, climactic crisis is exciting. But he's pure evil. There is no, "I'm doing this for a better cause." Like how in ["Avengers: Endgame"], Thanos, he was doing it to bring peace even though it was a wrong way of going about it. But he says if he got rid of half the world's population, then there's more fruitfulness for everyone that's still living. But with The Anti-Monitor, it's just evil. Like, "I want evil, I want to kill things. I want one world under my fingerprint." And that's just what he does. So it's exciting to see how that comes to a head.

IBT: What was the most exciting part about filming "Crisis on Infinite Earths"?

Garrett: I think working with all the actors on a scale that big. I've never worked with Caity Lotz before. I've never worked with Brandon [Routh]. All those actors have a lot of fun together…When you're into the schedule of shooting your show, it kind of gets routine…It’s great, but then you get like a field trip in the middle of nine, 10 months of shooting where it's like, "Oh, it's like camp. All my friends are here, this is different. This is new." And the energy, you see everyone's having fun on set. Just being a part of that and just knowing how big Crisis is going to be and the magnitude of it, even when I wasn't filming, I would sit back and just be thankful that I'm a part of this big [event]. It's a big moment in TV history to me and especially DC history and DC TV and comic books. It's going to be remembered and I'm glad I'm a part of it. So I would sit back and have fun just being there.

IBT: How long have you been a DC Comics fan?

Garrett: Since I was a kid. Since I was a kid. I had the pajamas, I had the action figures, I had my comic books. I love Marvel too. Don't get me wrong. I just loved superheroes. When I was younger, I had The Thing pajamas, I had Hulk pajamas, I had Superman pajamas and had Batman pajamas. That's what it was. I was a nerd at an early age for comic books. But I never thought I'd grow up and actually play a part in it.

"Crisis on Infinite Earths," a five-part event, starts airing Sunday, Dec. 8 on The CW. "Arrow" Season 8 and "The Flash" Season 5 air Tuesdays at 8 p.m. and 9 p.m. EDT on The CW. "Batwoman" Season 1 and "Supergirl" Season 5 air Sundays at 8 p.m. and 9 p.m. EDT on The CW. "Black Lightning" Season 3 airs Mondays at 9 p.m. EDT.

The conversation has been lightly edited for length and clarity.