Among the mountain of news coming out of SDCC were numerous casting announcements for The CW’s Arrowverse shows. For starters, it was announced that Jon Cryer would return as Lex Luthor for Season 5 of ‘Supergirl’, even though the character appeared to be killed in Season 4. And crossover actor LaMonica Garrett, who plays the Monitor on all of the Arrowverse shows, will also play his evil counterpart the Anti-Monitor.
In addition, ‘Supergirl’ is adding two new regular cast members– Julie Gonzalo and Staz Nair, as Andrea Rojas (a.k.a. Acrata) and William Dey, respectively. That series is also welcoming Meaghan Rath, the sister of Jesse Rath (Brainiac-5) as a female counterpart. Meanwhile, former ‘Heroes’ star Sendhil Ramamurthy is joining ‘The Flash’ in a decidedly unheroic role, as Dr. Ramsey Rosso, a.k.a. the monstrous Bloodwork. And finally, Charlie Barnett has been cast as the adult version of John Diggle Jr.
Cryer was present for the ‘Supergirl’ SDCC panel, where co-showrunner Jessica Queller expressed:
“We’re excited to have you back. Hopefully, you’ll stick around after that. You need to be nicer to your sister.”
Meanwhile, it was revealed that LaMonica Garrett will be pulling double duty ahead as both the Monitor and his evil doppelganger the Anti-Monitor. Producer Marc Guggenheim shared some concept art to give fans an idea of what to expect:
@lamonicagarrett will be playing the Anti-Monitor in #CrisisOnInfiniteEarths. Concept art: pic.twitter.com/jTGm3PZypL
— Marc Guggenheim (@mguggenheim) July 21, 2019
As comic readers know, the Anti-Monitor was the driving force behind the comic story ‘Crisis on Infinite Earths’. Obviously, the Arrowverse version will play out differently, but expect Garrett to play a huge role.
Julie Gonzalo (‘Veronica Mars’) and Staz Nair (‘Game of Thrones’) will be series regular on the upcoming fifth season of ‘Supergirl’.
Gonzolo will portray Andrea Rojas (aka Acrata), “a polished businesswoman and heir to a Central American tech empire [who is] now making a hostile advance into the world of media. Unapologetic and unafraid to make waves, she also holds a mystical secret.” Rojas a.k.a. Acrata is a minor Mexican superhero with the power of “shadow teleportation” from the comics. On the show, Rojas will take over CatCo, which makes sense as James Olsen (Mehcad Brooks) is leaving the show this season.
Nair’s character, William Dey, is described as a “hardened reporter.” Unlike Andrea Rojas, this is an original character created for the TV series. “On the surface, he’s a cynic and a sellout who looks down on Kara’s earnest idealism. Dey’s not interested in making friends, he just wants to get the story — but his ties to the criminal underworld could prove problematic.”
Both characters will debut on the Season 5 premiere of ‘Supergirl’ which airs on Sunday, October 6.
It was also announced that Jesse Rath’s sister Meaghan will portray a female version of Brainiac-5 in the ‘Crisis’ event. As Jesse announced:
“[This is] something that I’ve been pitching since I got the role. You can’t talk about Brainy without talking about his family. My real-life sister will be joining the show, Meaghan Rath. She will be playing a female Brainiac-5.”
Rath has been starring on ‘Hawaii Five-O’ for two years, but genre fans may best remember her as Sally Malik, the ghost on ‘Being Human’. Her former costar, Sam Witwer (Aidan the vampire) played Ben Lockwood, the Big Bad of the last season of ‘Supergirl’. So far, their co-star Sam Huntington hasn’t appeared on an Arrowverse show, but he was Jimmy Olsen in 2006’s ‘Superman Returns’.
Moving on to other Arrowverse shows, former ‘Heroes’ star Sendhil Ramamurthy has been cast as Dr. Ramsey Rosso, “a brilliant physician with a genius intellect, and the world’s leading expert on hematological oncology,” who also happens to be an old friend of Caitlin’s.
“Their longtime bond, though, is quickly shattered when the doctor’s desire to defy the laws of nature takes him down a dark path… one that transforms him from an old friend into the most chilling villain Team Flash has ever faced: the monstrous Bloodwork.”
Dr. Rosso takes center stage in this new trailer for the upcoming season:
Finally, the show that started it all, ‘Arrow’ maybe ending, but there is still plenty of story to tell. Showrunner Beth Schwartz teased:
“We’re going to have a bit of sibling rivalry in our future story line.”
‘Russian Doll’s Charlie Barnett has been cast as John Diggle Jr. or J.J., who, in the future storyline, is the leader of the Deathstroke Gang and is actively in battle with his half-brother Connor Hawke (Joseph David-Jones).
Whew! So there you have it. There will be quite a few new faces in the Arrowverse this coming season. How long they stick around remains to be seen.
The premier episode of ‘Batwoman’, and the first episode of ‘Supergirl’ Season 5 will air on Sunday, October 6. ‘The Flash’ returns for its sixth season at 8 pm on Tuesday, October 8. ‘Arrow’ will return for its eighth and final season on Tuesday, October 15.
Source: Entertainment Weekly
