ARROW Finds Itself A New Count Vertigo For Season 3

The Arrow casting news keeps coming and coming. First Katana, then her husband and now a new Count Vertigo is headed to Starling City. TV Guide is reporting that Peter Stormare (Fargo, The Big Lebowski), will play Werner Zytle in the upcoming third season. Zytle is described as “the new purveyor of the drug Vertigo, filling the role left vacant since the death of The Count last season.” Zytle will be the first enemy Team Arrow faces in season 3, and lest you think this guy is simply selling Vertigo to make some extra cash, don’t worry, Zytle will use the name Vertigo.

The first Count, played by Fringe‘s Seth Gabel, appeared in two episodes of season 1 and one episode of season 2. In his final appearance, he was killed by Oliver when he was about to inject a lethal dose of Vertigo into Felicity. The comic book world may feature resurrections of heroes and villains way more often than we like, but in Arrow, if you’ve been shot by three arrows and fallen from a building, you’re staying dead.

When the first Count died, I was honestly taken aback. I couldn’t care less if any of those generic villains of the week from season 1 bit the dust, but Count Vertigo is a notable Green Arrow adversary. I’m glad that they’re bringing in a new guy to take the mantle. There’s one other thing: in the New 52, Count Vertigo’s alias is Werner Zytle. This leads me to believe that not only will this new Vertigo be a longer lasting adversary of Oliver, but he’ll also be a more faithful adaptation of the character. Gabel’s Vertigo was amusing, but he was too reminiscent of a European Joker. Maybe Stormare’s Vertigo will be closer to the Vlatanvan royalty from the comics.

Hey, let’s take it a step further: give him the actual vertigo device. The Vertigo drug is fine, but nothing beats a contraption that makes your opponents dizzy and nauseous. It certainly doesn’t help the guy whose gimmick is aiming and shooting arrows at criminals.

SOURCE: TV Guide