At the end of last season, ‘Arrow’s flashbacks jumped forward a bit, leaving the deserted island and finding Oliver mysteriously transported to Hong Kong.  As such, expect a new batch of supporting characters to replace Slade, Sarah and Shado in these sequences.

Two of these new characters have been revealed as the show has begun casting for Season Three.  One character is a mentor for Oliver while the other is the wife of that character.  Here are the official casting descriptions for these two new characters:

TOSHI – Majorly recurring in (at least) the Hong Kong flashbacks, Toshi (late 20s/early 30s) will serve as Oliver’s teacher and handler, and eventually become a friend.  A well-trained operative, skilled in weaponry, combat and intelligence gathering, he is also a devoted father and husband.

AKIKO – Toshi’s wife is another of Oliver’s Hong Kong caretakers, and is herself highly skilled in martial arts.

But that isn’t all.  Expect at least two more new characters to appear.  The producers are also looking for these two characters:

‘DANIEL’ – Though Daniel could be a fake name to throw off spoilerholics, this 20-something gent — a major recurring character for Season 3 — is a handsome, enigmatic and highly intelligent entrepreneur developing groundbreaking technology. (Picture a business magnate in Ryan Gosling’s body.) Though exuding charm and confidence in public, he privately harbors a tragic past that will drive him to become a tech-powered superhero. Watch for this formidable fella to be a love interest for Felicity and a rival of Oliver’s – both personally and professionally.

‘SETH’ – A well-educated criminal with grand ambitions and a knack for chemistry, this potentially recurring character gains power over his enemies by exposing them to a drug that drains their willpower. Oh, and he is very much a physical match for The Arrow.

The last two have quotation marks around their names, because it’s believed that these are fake names meant to distract viewers.  Most likely these are comic book characters that will be making their debut on ‘Arrow’.

‘Vampire Diaries’ alum Steven R. McQueen has long been jockeying for the role of Nightwing/Dick Grayson on the show.  A recent tweet further fueled rumors that he would be slipping into the black leather tights of that character.

The description of ‘Daniel’ could be a veiled listing for Nightwing, but if McQueen was a lock for the role, why list it as a part that was still to be cast?

Another possibility is Ted Kord, a.k.a. the Blue Beetle, the head of a technology company who uses his tech smarts to design crime fighting weaponry, including his large beetle-shaped aircraft.  Another, although unlikely choice is John Henry Irons, a.k.a. Steel another inventor hero.  Steel, though, is so closely related to Superman, he’s probably not in the cards for this show.  One might argue that Nightwing is so closely related to Batman that the same could be said of him, but considering how many Batman-related characters have already appeared on ‘Arrow,’ I think that argument is moot.

What about this ‘Seth’ character?  Once again, that name is probably fake to throw off comic fans.  The description hints at perhaps the Scarecrow, the villain recently brought to life in ‘Batman Begins’.  It may also be a spin on Psycho Pirate, the emotion-manipulating foe of the Justice Society.

What DC characters would you like to see translated to the world of ‘Arrow’?

Source: TV Line