I’m starting to think the ‘Fast and Furious’ movie franchise is a training ground for future superheroes. Vin Diesel is voicing Groot in ‘Guardians of the Galaxy‘, Gal Gadot is playing Wonder Woman in ‘Batman V. Superman: Dawn of Justice’ and Dwayne Johnson has long been rumored to be in talks to play some superhero or another. Now Devon Aoki joins her car racing comrades, joining The CW series ‘Arrow’ as DC’s sword-slinging Katana.
Katana (a.k.a. Tatsu Toro) is an expert martial artist, who possesses a magical blade that contains the souls of everyone it is used to slay, including Tatsu’s husband and the mystic demon The Creeper. Katana served as a member of the Birds of Prey for a while, before being given her own series and joining the Justice League of America. In past continuity, she was a member of The Outsiders.
Aoki previously played a sword-wielder as Miho in ‘Sin City’.
On ‘Arrow’ the character will appear in flashbacks to Ollie’s time in Hong Kong. This matches a previous casting description:
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.
It was assumed at the time, that the names used were fake. Akiko is clearly Tatsu Toro, which means that Toshi is most likely Maseo, Katana’s husband in the comics. Since these are flashbacks, I wouldn’t expect Tatsu’s Katana identity to be employed. In her own series, she was surrounded by a fascinating supporting cast. Hopefully some of them will surface on ‘Arrow’.
Are you intrigued by Aoki’s role on ‘Arrow’? Are there any other DC characters you’d like to see on this show?
