IGN is reporting that Doug Jones is joining the cast of Arrow as the super-powered villain DeathboltDeathbolt.

Back when Flash was taking off, the producers talked about it opening them up to the possibility of having more super-powered characters on the show, that they realized that they can do it without upsetting the balance and tone that the show strives for. This is a big step in some cool directions for the show, for a lot of reasons.

Deathbolt’s not exactly a well-known villain, he’s more or less a one-off E-lister from the 80’s. But inasmuch as he’s the first metahuman on the show (and considering that the show is at its best when it’s embracing its comic-book-ness), this is pretty darned exciting.

Doug Jones

The other really exciting thing is Doug Jones himself. The man is a master of graceful, elegant physical performances, often under heavy prostheses. You’ve seen him as the head Gentleman in Buffy: The Vampire Slayer‘s landmark silent episode “Hush.” He also plays Abe Sapien in the Hellboy films, and both the Faun and the Pale Man in Pan’s Labyrinth. Out of makeup, he often lends brief, bizarre cameos to sci-fi comedies like Men in Black II and Mystery Men – he’s good at giving a gracefully surreal undercurrent to any scene he appears in.

The comic-book Deathbolt doesn’t really provide an opportunity to break out the makeup, but who knows? Arrow’s good at fitting comic-book ideas to the milieu they already have going, and that usually involves toning things down, but they’ll likely do whatever they can to get the most out of Doug Jones.

In the comics, Deathbolt manipulates electricity, and was an adversary of the All-Star Squadron. Wildcat was a member of All-Star Squadron, some it’s worth wondering if Deathbolt’s going to roll into town with a hate-on for Ted Grant. We’ll find out towards the end of the season – Jones is slated to appear in episode 19, “Broken Arrow.”