‘Arrow’ Season 6 Spoilers: Who Is Richard Dragon? DC Comics Villain Explained

“Arrow” Season 6 will bring in a villain familiar to DC Comics fans. Kirk Acevedo has been cast as Ricardo Diaz in the new season, and the recently released inmate is actually the CW’s version of Richard Dragon.

Entertainment Weekly confirmed that Diaz is actually based on Dragon, and the outlet also revealed some character details. Apparently, he has just been released from prison, but he was serving time for crimes he didn’t commit. Rather than be thankful that he is out, he’ll become a legitimate criminal.

“Ricardo Diaz is bent on taking over Star City’s criminal underworld,” the casting description says. “A master in hand to hand combat, honed by years of life on the street, Diaz has yet to meet a foe he can’t take down…”

The comics might give some more helpful hints about the character. It isn’t clear just how much the show will take from the comics and which comics they will take them from. The writers have already adapted the name Richard Diaz, indicating they might be taking their cues from the “New 52” comics.

In the newer stories, Diaz is a kid who watched Green Arrow (Stephen Amell) and Diggle (David Ramsey) humiliate his crime lord father, according to DC Database. He trained with the League of Assassins to prepare for his revenge, and then the up and coming villain started taking over all the local Seattle gangs. Diaz eventually went after the Green Arrow with a team of villains when Oliver’s head had a bounty of several million dollars.

While the show’s description certainly matches that arc, which takes place on Prime Earth, they might take inspiration from the Earth One version of the character as well. First introduced in 1975, Dragon is a master martial artist who has been on both sides of the law. He grew up as a thief but he went on to train much more seriously as a fighter. He eventually became a secret agent and a vigilante. Later, he was a martial arts instructor.

As a trainer, he taught some memorable superheroes, including Barbara Gordon/Oracle and Helena Bertinelli/Huntress (Jessica De Gouw). It’s worth noting that the “Arrow” writers, as previously reported, are hoping to bring the Huntress back in the later half of Season 6.

“I want to say, ‘Absolutely,’” executive producer Marc Guggenheim told CBR. “Jessica De Gouw [who plays the character] has expressed an absolute willingness to come back. Jessica’s a favorite actor of mine, and the Huntress is a favorite character of mine. I want to make it happen in Season 6. We’ve got some plans for the later half of the year that I think she will fit into really well, so we’ll see.”

Are their plans for Helena’s return connected to Diaz’s arc? Fans will have to wait and see. The Huntress’ comeback still hasn’ been finalized.

If the CW drama keeps Dragon’s fighting skills, there should be some interesting action scenes in Season 6. The “New 52” version of the character is skilled in hand-to-hand combat, but the original has much more extensive training. Dragon was skilled in aikido, karate, kung fu (both dragon style and leopard style), jiu-jitsu and judo.

Unfortunately, Dragon/Diaz won’t be the only villain Oliver has to worry about in “Arrow” Season 6. Anatoly (David Nykl) will be back, and Michael Emerson is playing a mysterious bad guy as well (rumored to be Helix leader Cayden James). Also, Laurel’s Earth Two doppelganger Black Siren (Katie Cassidy) will survive the explosion, and Oliver probably won’t be too friendly with her after her deal with Prometheus.

“Arrow” Season 6 premieres Thursday, Oct. 12 at 9 p.m. EDT on The CW.