Merlyn (DC Comics)
It has been suggested that Television be Draft:Malcolm Merlyn (Arrowverse). (Discuss ) (November 2023) |
Merlyn | |
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Injustice League
Anti-Justice League The 100 The Killer Elite Injustice Gang Secret Society of Super Villains Suicide Squad | |
Notable aliases | The Dark Archer[2] The Magician The Magnificent |
Abilities |
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Merlyn (Arthur King), also known as the Dark Archer, is a
Malcolm Merlyn appears in The CW's Arrowverse, portrayed by John Barrowman.
Publication history
Created by
Fictional character biography
Long before becoming the vigilante
In
During the events of "
In
Merlyn next appears as one of the primary villains in the Injustice Gang in the "Identity Crisis" miniseries.[13] He warns and correctly predicts that the death of Sue Dibny would have troublesome and dire consequences in the criminal underworld.[14] Although the Justice League manages to capture Merlyn, Monacle and Deadshot, the latter is able to use connections with the Suicide Squad and Amanda Waller to arrange for their release, much to the frustration of the newest Manhunter.[15] Merlyn, Deadshot, Monacle and Phobia later attempt to kill the Shadow Thief during his trial, but are confronted and stopped by the Manhunter.
During the "
During Countdown, Merlyn appears under the employ of the League of Assassins, coordinating his attacks with Talia al Ghul and serving as a mentor to Damian Wayne.[20] Merlyn has a minor role in The Resurrection of Ra's al Ghul, in which he is hired by the Sensei to take out a spring where Ra's al Ghul could revitalize himself. He is defeated during the final confrontation between Ra's and Batman.[21] Merlyn then joins the League of Assassins' elite team known as the Seven Men of Death, and is sent to Gotham City to retrieve the Suit of Sorrows from the Order of Purity. During the attack on the Order, Merlyn kills the Order's leader Leland McCauley, and injures Felicidad Gomez before being confronted by Azrael.[22] Merlyn and his team attempt to capture Azrael and move him to their headquarters, but Azrael uses one of Merlyn's own arrows to stab him.[23]
Merlyn is later captured by the vigilante
The New 52
In The New 52 reboot's Batman Incorporated, Merlyn appears under the League of Assassins' employ and serves as a member of the Seven Men of Death who are tasked by Talia al Ghul's Leviathan organization to destroy Batman Incorporated. Merlyn defeats members of the group with ease, until his bow is broken by a surprise shot from Damian Wayne.[25] During the "Forever Evil" storyline, Merlyn is one of the numerous villains recruited by the Crime Syndicate of America to join the Secret Society of Super Villains.[26]
DC Rebirth
In the
In Batman, Merlyn was one of the assassins hired by the Penguin and the Designer to kill Batman. He was captured by the GCPD, but managed to escape. He, along with Cheshire, attempted to attack Catwoman and Harley Quinn at a cemetery, but both were defeated by them.
Powers and abilities
Merlyn (Arthur King) has been established as one of the greatest and most accurate
After the defeat of the Leviathan organization, large portions of Merlyn's body have been replaced by advanced mechanical parts, granting him superhuman durability and illusion abilities.[30][31]
In other media
Television
- Merlyn makes non-speaking appearances in Justice League Unlimited as a minor member of Gorilla Grodd's Secret Society. Prior to and during the episode "Alive!", Lex Luthor takes command of the Society, but Grodd mounts a mutiny. Merlyn sides with the latter before he is frozen by Killer Frost and killed off-screen by Darkseid along with most of the Society.
- A character based on the Dark Archer named Vordigan appears in Marionette Ventures.
Arrowverse
Malcolm Merlyn / Dark Archer appears in media set in the Arrowverse, portrayed by John Barrowman.[32][33]
- Introduced and primarily appearing in the TV series Captain Boomerang, taking the latter with him in the process.[34]
- Malcolm appears in the crossovers "John Deeganuses the Book of Destiny to rewrite reality.
- A musical/gangster film-inspired, dream world incarnation of Malcolm named "Cutter" Moran appears in The Flash episode "Duet".
- A time-displaced version of Malcolm appears in the Spear of Destinyand rewrite reality to change their fates, only to be defeated by the Legends and returned to their original places in time with no memory of their activities.
Film
- Merlyn appears in the script for Green Arrow: Escape from Super Maxas an inmate of the titular prison.
- Merlyn the Magnificent appears in DC Showcase: Green Arrow, voiced by Malcolm McDowell.[38]
Video games
- Merlyn appears as a non-player character (NPC) in S.T.A.R. Labsmissions.
- The Arrowverse incarnation of Malcolm Merlyn appears in Lego Batman 3: Beyond Gotham via the Arrow DLC.[39][40]
- Malcolm Merlyn appears in Lego DC Super-Villains, voiced by John Barrowman.[41] This version is a member of the Legion of Doom.
Miscellaneous
- The Arrowverse incarnation of Malcolm Merlyn appears in a flashback in the Arrow tie-in comic, The Dark Archer, in which his birth name is revealed to be Arthur King.[42]
- Merlyn appears in the Young Justice tie-in comic, Young Justice: Targets.
Merchandise
- The Arrowverse incarnation of Malcolm Merlyn received two figures, with one as the Dark Archer and an unmasked variant, from
- The Arrowverse incarnation of Malcolm Merlyn received a San Diego Comic-Con 2016-exclusive POP! vinyl figure from Funko.[46]
- The Arrowverse incarnation of Malcolm Merlyn received a GameStop-exclusive vinyl figure from Dorbz.[47]
References
- ^ a b c d e f Green Arrow (vol. 6) #14 (March 2017)
- ^ a b c Green Arrow (vol. 6) #13 (February 2017)
- ISBN 978-1-4654-5357-0.
- ISBN 9780345501066.
- ^ Action Comics #443 (January 1975). DC Comics.
- ^ Black Lightning #2 (May 1977). DC Comics.
- ^ Black Lightning #5 (November 1977). DC Comics.
- ^ The Flash (vol. 2) #29 (August 1989). DC Comics.
- ^ New Years Evil Body Doubles one-shot (February 1998). DC Comics.
- ^ Young Justice #23 (September 2000). DC Comics.
- ^ Young Justice #24 (October 2000). DC Comics.
- ^ Young Justice #25 (November 2000). DC Comics.
- ^ Identity Crisis #4 (November 2004). DC Comics.
- ^ Identity Crisis #6 (January 2005). DC Comics.
- ^ Manhunter (vol. 3) #8 (May 2005)
- ^ Green Arrow (vol. 3) #57 (February 2006). DC Comics.
- ^ Green Arrow (vol. 3) #58 (March 2006). DC Comics.
- ^ Green Arrow (vol. 3) #59 (April 2006). DC Comics.
- ^ Green Arrow and Black Canary Wedding Special #1 (November 2007). DC Comics.
- ^ Batman #671 (January 2008). DC Comics.
- ^ Detective Comics #839 (February 2008). DC Comics.
- ^ Azrael: Death's Dark Knight #1 (May 2009). DC Comics.
- ^ Azrael: Death's Dark Knight #2 (June 2009). DC Comics.
- ^ Green Arrow and Black Canary #19 (June 2009). DC Comics.
- ^ Batman Incorporated (vol. 2) #4 (December 2012). DC Comics.
- ^ Forever Evil #1 (November 2013). DC Comics.
- ^ Green Arrow (vol. 6) #12 (February 2017). DC Comics.
- ^ Green Arrow (vol. 5) #0 (November 2012). DC Comics.
- ^ Green Arrow (vol. 5) #36 (January 2015). DC Comics.
- ^ Green Arrow (vol. 7) #5 (October 2023)
- ^ Green Arrow (vol. 7) #6 (November 2023)
- ^ Phegley, Kiel (December 12, 2012). "Barrowman Brings Malcolm Merlyn To "Arrow"". Comic Book Resources. Archived from the original on April 16, 2016. Retrieved April 5, 2016.
- ^ Schedeen, Jesse (January 6, 2016). "Arrow's John Barrowman to Write Dark Archer Comic". IGN.
- ^ Burlingame, Russ. "Arrow EP Discusses the Possibility of John Barrowman's Return". Comicbook.com. Retrieved 18 March 2018.
- ^ Bucksbaum, Sydney (July 23, 2016). "Comic-Con: 'Legends of Tomorrow' to Tackle Legion of Doom Villain Team In Season 2". The Hollywood Reporter.
- ^ Schedeen, Jesse (31 January 2017). "DC's Legends of Tomorrow: "The Legion of Doom" Review". IGN.com. Retrieved 18 March 2018.
- ^ Schedeen, Jesse (4 April 2017). "DC's Legends of Tomorrow: "Aruba" Review". IGN.com. Retrieved 18 March 2018.
- ^ Harvey, James (September 24, 2010). "Main Cast, Crew Details For "DC Showcase: Green Arrow" Animated Short". worldsfinestonline.com. Retrieved March 30, 2018.
- ^ "Arrow DLC For Lego Batman 3 Gets A Cute Trailer That Stars Stephen Amell". 14 January 2015. Retrieved 30 March 2018.
- ^ @LEGODCGame (October 11, 2014). "Proudly introducing the @CW_Arrow DLC pack with Stephen Amell! @amellywood #LEGOBatmanGame" (Tweet). Retrieved 30 March 2018 – via Twitter.
- ^ @JoeWritesThis (July 22, 2018). "Special thanks to the super-awesome @JohnBarrowman for providing the voice of Malcolm Merlyn in @LEGODCGame. ^_^ #LEGODCSuperVillains" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
- ^ Renaud, Jeffrey (January 14, 2016). "John & Carole Barrowman Target Merlyn's Past in "Arrow: Dark Archer" and "The Magician" Comic". Comic Book Resources. Archived from the original on April 16, 2016. Retrieved April 5, 2016.
- ^ "DC Collectibles Arrow (TV): The Dark Archer Action Figure". Amazon. Retrieved 2018-03-04.
- ^ Steinbeiser, Andrew (July 8, 2015). "New Arrow and Flash Action Figures Revealed". Comicbook.com. Retrieved March 9, 2018.
- ^ "DC Collectibles Arrow TV: Malcolm Merlyn Action Figure". Amazon. Retrieved 2018-03-23.
- ^ "Funko Pop TV: Arrow - Malcolm Merlyn 2016 SDCC Exclusive Vinyl Figure". Amazon. Retrieved 2018-03-04.
- ^ "Dorbz Arrow Malcolm Merlyn GameStop Exclusive #199". Amazon. Retrieved 2018-03-04.
External links
- Merlyn at the DC Database
- Malcolm Merlyn at the DC Database
- Merlyn at the Comic Book DB (archived from the original)