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Steven Culp on "Arrow"

as Senator Joseph Cray

(c) Diverse sources


(April 1, 2015, moviecomicswhoswho.wordpress.com, by Mino)
Joseph Cray

steven-culp-arrow-character-joe-cray-6-.png
In the last episode of Arrow there was still another character, the villain. In Suicidal Tendencies, John Diggle's and Lyla Michaels's honey moon is abruptly interrupted (before it even begins…) by the usual A.R.G.U.S., that orders Lyla to leave on a mission to save Senator Joseph Cray, portrayed by Steven Culp, an important politician who's been taken hostage in Kasnia by some terrorists. Problem is: the terrorists are actually mercenaries, and Cray doesn't want to be saved, as he has paid the mercs to "kidnap" him so that he could play the hero of the situation and run to be President afterwards. This particular senator is not exactly a nice guy in the comics as well, and he's tied to the same team of villains he fights against in the show, the Suicide Squad. Let's see together.

steven-culp-arrow-character-joe-cray-6-.png
Almost nothing is known about Joseph Cray's early life. Greedy and hungry for power, Cray entered politics just to obtain personal influence and a remarkable amount of money. He paid enough people to build for himself a path to the top, and he became a US Senator. Thanks to a certain cleverness, Cray was able to make the right friendships in the right places, finding himself with a lot of influent allies who could have become pretty useful if the situation required it. When his mandate was about to end, Cray started a reelection campaign, but his opposition showed from the very beginning that they would have most likely won: Cray would have lost his position due to the fact that he had never cared of anybody but himself while he was supposed to act as a politician. What he didn't do for the people, however, he did for his precious friends, so when it became clear he wouldn't have made it through conventional means, he decided it was the time he had some old debts repaid. One of his allies was Derek Tolliver, a member of the National Security Council who also happened to be the liaison to the Task Force X, a secret black ops squad composed of renowned criminals who got a pardon in exchange of the disponibility for taking care of government's dirty work. Extreme times called for extreme measures, and Cray decided to use his connection with Tolliver, promising him appealing rewards in exchange of his help in his reelection. No sooner said than done: Tolliver used his own connection to talk to President Ronald Reagan in person, convincing him that Cray had to be reelected and getting his authorization to use the Task Force X (aka the Suicide Squad) to eliminate Cray's opposition.

steven-culp-arrow-character-joe-cray-6-.png
Of course, the Suicide Squad didn't react well to pressures of any kind, and this was no ecception. Amanda Waller, the head of the team, directly confronted Tolliver, who threatened to expose the Squad's existence to the public if they didn't comply; when she couldn't convince him to stop working for Cray, she used her connection with the Checkmate (a secret intelligence agency) to collect enough information to blackmail him in turn, so Tolliver gave up and Cray lost his precious ally. Even more, President Reagan summoned Cray, and ordered him to let the Suicide Squad be, and to give up to his ambition to be reelected. This wasn't over, however: Rick Flag Jr., the field leader of the Suicide Squad, believed that the only way to be sure Cray and his associates couldn't arm the team was to eradicate the problem at its root. First, he killed Tolliver in his own office, thus alarming Cray. Waller, who had solved the problem already, sent the rest of the Suicide Squad after Flag, ordering the team to prevent him from killing Senator Cray with every mans necessary. Cray, in the meanwhile, had been found by Rick Flag right at the Lincoln Memorial: Flag held him at gunpoint, and revealed to him that Tolliver was dead already, and that he was going to kill him as well to protect his men. Cray tried to beg or to corrupt Flag, but clearly his efforts were in vain: when the man was about to shoot, however, another gunslinger appeared: Deadshot, the team's sniper. Flag told Dadshot that he would have needed to kill him if he wanted to stop him, since it was too late to come back; in response, Deadshot shot and killed Senator Cray, thus preventing Flag from killing him "with all means necessary". The Senator's maneuvres were definitely over.

Joseph Cray is a treacherous and ambitious man, who knows how power works and how it can be achieved, and who's ready to do everything he can to mantain his own. Cray has a lot of connections, and knows how to pull the right strings to obtain what he wants: unfortunately, he believes he's the only one able to play this kind of game, and someone like Amanda Waller is more than eager to prove him wrong…
(March 6, 2015, moviepilot.com, by Kit Simpson Browne)
Captain America Star Set for...Arrow?

It's always big news when a Marvel or DC star switches teams, and heads to their second Cinematic Universe - and though Steven Culp may not be a star on quite the same level as, say, Chris Evans, the fact that he'll soon be trading the big screen shine of Captain America: The Winter Soldier for TV's Arrow might just tell us something about the ever-increasing respect the industry has for the CW's hugely popular superhero shows.

That's right - Steven Culp, who you may well recognize from The West Wing, or his remarkable turn as Bobby Kennedy in Thirteen Days, is trading his role as General Scudder in The Winter Soldier...



...for a US Senator in Arrow, named Joseph Cray.

Now, in the comics, Cray's involvement was largely centered on conflict with Amanda Waller and the Suicide Squad - before he was assassinated by Deadshot, that is.

His son, though, Adam Cray, briefly became the Atom - so watch your back, Brandon Routh...

Either way, though, we can expect to see Cray (and Culp) on screen in March 25's episode of Arrow - but then again, it's not like we weren't going to watch it anyway...
(March 5, 2015, comicbook.com, by Russ Burlingame)
Arrow: Suicidal Tendencies Brings Back the Suicide Squad

The CW has released the official summary for "Suicidal Tendencies," the March 25 episode of their hit DC Comics adaptation Arrow:


"Suicidal Tendencies" — (8:00-9:00 p.m. ET) (Content Rating TBD) (HDTV)

DIGGLE MARRIES LYLA; THE SUICIDE SQUAD RIDES AGAIN — It's celebration time as Diggle (David Ramsey) and Lyla (guest star Audrey Marie Anderson) get married. However, Deadshot (guest star Michael Rowe) interrupts their honeymoon and tells them the Suicide Squad has been given a new mission – rescue United States Senator Joseph Cray (guest star Steven Culp) from a hostage situation in the Republic of Kasnia. Amanda Waller (guest star Cynthia Addai-Robinson) breaks down the mission and introduces them to the newest member of the Suicide Squad, Cupid (guest star Amy Gumenick). Meanwhile, Oliver (Stephen Amell) learns about Ray's new Atom costume and the two have a heated stand-off. Felicity (Emily Bett Rickards) and Ray hit a rough patch. Jesse Warn directed the episode written by Keto Shimizu (#317). Original airdate 3/25/2015.
(March 5, 2015, comicbook.com, by Russ Burlingame)
Captain America: The Winter Soldier's Steven Culp To Play Suicide Squad's Joseph Cray in Arrow

Buried in the synopsis for March 25's episode of Arrow was the announcement that Steven Culp is coming to the show to play Joseph Cray, a minor DC Comics character with ties to the Suicide Squad.

In the comics, Cray is a U.S. Senator who comes into conflict with Amanda Waller and the Squad and who is eventually assassinated by Deadshot. He first appeared in Suicide Squad #11 and was created by John Ostrander and Luke McConnell.

He had a son named Adam Cray, who briefly served as The Atom. At first Cray was widely believed to be Ray Palmer in disguise, by both the fans and the characters, as he used a modified version of Palmer's size-changing belt and a mask that covered most of his head. Actually Cray had been recruited by Palmer himself, who faked his death, in order to apprehend the Micro Squad, a group of villains that had been shrunk down.

Since Palmer is a major player on Arrow this season, that could certainly be worth monitoring...but at the same time, he doesn't shrink in this show, so they'd have to make some significant changes to the storyline.

Culp is probably best known for his runs on The West Wing and Desperate Housewives, but he's been a prolific film and TV actor for decades now. He recently played Scudder in Captain America: The Winter Soldier.
(February 18, 2015)
According to IMDb, the episode "Suicidal Tendencies" of "Arrow" with Steven will air on March 25, 2015 on CW.
(January 30, 2015, comicvine.com)
From the comic universe:
(January 30, 2015, dailysuperheroes.com)
(January 28, 2015)
Creator of 'Arrow' Marc Guggenheim @mguggenheim posted the following messages on his Twitter account on Jan 28, 2015:

"Arrow 3x17 begins filming today. Written by @ketomizu. Directed by @JesseWarn @Captain_Rowe"





Facts:
Preparation began January 19, 2015 and ran until January 27, 2015.

Filming began January 28, 2015 and ran until February 6, 2015
(January 28, 2015, ET Online.com, by Jay Jayson)
Suicide Squad Is Returning To Arrow; Cupid Joining The Team

ETonline has learned that Amanda Waller's Suicide Squad is returning to CW's Arrow.

The villains-to-heroes team will make their return in the 18th episode, which is titled "Suicidal Tendencies." (1) Who is coming back? You can expect to see A.R.G.U.S. head Amanda Waller (Cynthia Addai-Robinson) and Deadshot (Michael Rowe). Ben Turner (Michael Jai White), better known as Bronze Tiger, will not be appearing in the episode.

Carrie Hartnell Cutter (Amy Gumenick), also known as Cupid, will be joining the team. Last time we saw her Amanda Waller was recruiting her, so this isn't much of a surprise.

A new character to the Arrow universe will be introduced: Senator Cray, who will be played by Steven Culp ("Grey's Anatomy"). In the comics, he was a corrupt politician who used Waller's team to help him gain more political power. For Arrow, Cray "will be at the center of a rescue operation in the fictional Republic of Kasnia."
(January 28, 2015, ET Online.com, by Philiana Ng)
EXCLUSIVE: 'Arrow' Is Plotting Another Suicide Squad Episode – and Your Favorites Are Back!

The Suicide Squad is coming back to Arrow, whether you're ready for them or not.

ETonline has exclusively learned that Arrow will be reuniting members of Task Force X, also known as the Suicide Squad, in the 17th episode of the season in an hour appropriately titled "Suicidal Tendencies."

A.R.G.U.S. head Amanda Waller (Cynthia Addai-Robinson) returns in this episode, along with fan favorites Deadshot (Michael Rowe) and Cupid (Amy Gumenick), who is the newest member of the gang! Not everyone will be present however, with Bronze Tiger sitting this one out and Shrapnel six feet under (R.I.P.).

A brand-new character will also be introduced to the Arrow universe: the corrupt politician Senator Cray, to be played by Grey's Anatomy and Bosch star Steven Culp.

In the John Ostrander run of the Suicide Squad comics, Joe Cray was a dirty senator who used Task Force X to advance his political standing. On Arrow, Senator Cray will be at the center of a rescue operation in the fictional Republic of Kasnia.

[...]

(1) Editor's note: The original version of the story mistakenly labeled the "Suicidal Tendencies" as episode 18.

Arrow airs Wednesdays at 8 p.m. on The CW.
(January 28, 2015, hypable.com, by Caitlin Kelly)
'Arrow' to reunite the Suicide Squad later this season

[...]

"Suicidal Tendencies" will also introduce a new character: Senator Cray, a corrupt politician. He will be played by Grey's Anatomy and Revolution alum Steven Culp. Cray will play a central role "of a rescue operation in the fictional Republic of Kasnia."

The character of Joseph Cray comes from a John Ostrander run of DC's Suicide Squad comics in which the senator used the squad for political gain.
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