"The Calm" is the title of the first episode of Arrow Season 3, as disclosed by executive producer Marc Guggenheim, and it will air on October 8, 2014, at its regular Wednesday 8:00 PM time slot on The CW.
Season 3, according to network source, "opens with the Arrow now a hero to the citizens of Starling. Crime is down, people are safer, and Captain Lance even calls off the Anti-Vigilante Task Force." Believing that things are back to normal and that he can return to his private life, Oliver (Stephen Amell) even asks Felicity (Emily Bett Rickards) out for a date. But just as he was getting used to the relative calm, continued the CW source, "a deadly villain reappears in Starling, forcing Oliver to realize that he can never be Oliver Queen - not as long as the city need The Arrow."
Who will be the deadly villain who will reappear? TVGuide says it will be a new Count Vertigo to be played by Peter Stormare. The original Count Vertigo (Seth Gabel), as may be recalled, was killed last season by the Arrow. Stormare's character "Werner Zytle" will now be taking over his Vertigo drug syndicate. Stormare's character will be seen in Season 3's first episode.
"Ray Palmer," the alter-ego of the superhero "The Atom" in the DC Comics universe, will join the cast of characters in the Arrow franchise starting next season. He will be played by Brandon Routh who is best known for his reprisal of the "Clark Kent/Superman" role in the 2006 hit, "Superman Returns." Rumors have it that he will be Felicity's new love interest.
