On Tuesday, Arrow star David Ramsey returns to the Arrowverse again as John Diggle with an appearance on Superman & Lois. It marks his third appearance as the character this season – the previous appearances being on Batwoman and The Flash – and he will return again for an episode of Supergirl before that show ends its run later this summer. For Ramsey, these appearances also mark nearly a decade of playing the fan-favorite character and while taking on a role for that long and across multiple series may be a daunting task, Ramsey has managed to keep things fresh and interesting with the ever-evolving fan favorite. And for Ramsey, a part of that comes from loving the character just as much as fans do.
“I’m in love with John Diggle, like a lot of, dare I say, the audience is,” Ramsey recently told ComicBook.com. “I think people kind of tuned into him because of his loyalty to his friends and to his family, to his dedication to his country. He will always jump on the grenade. And everyone wants a friend like John Diggle. So I think that’s part of his allure and attraction. He’s better than us, better than me. So I think that’s part of it. I’ve always been curious about characters who end up becoming part of what they abhorred or misunderstood or didn’t like for whatever reason. And John Diggle has always been … This man did three tours in Afghanistan. He’s a military guy. When we first meet him on Arrow, he’s a security guard. And he ultimately becomes the best friend of the hero. Then a vigilante working alongside the hero. Then a larger vigilante in the Crisis and crossovers and working with Superman and Supergirl. But he’s always been leery of this kind of other world. People who can run and move fast. And to now be invited to be part of that fraternity is very interesting to me as an actor.”
Ramsey went on to explain that following the character’s journey and seeing where his “destiny” is taking him – a destiny that many fans hope include Diggle becoming a Green Lantern – is fun for him personally as well as a bit of an unexpected thing, something he compared to Iron Man’s journey from that first Marvel Cinematic Universe film through to Avengers: Endgame.
So to see where his destiny lies from this man, this family guy who has children. And he lost his daughter in Flashpoint, was with Barry Allen and now he gets her back. Now he has his family again. Lost his best friend. We just see the evolution of his character. It’s just fun for me. So 10 years in, like you said, and we’re finally getting to find out his galactic destiny from this security guard. It’s just fun storytelling, right? It’s just now when you look back in the Marvel universe, you look back at Iron Man and you say, “Wow. Really?” Look at Endgame. You couldn’t have seen that coming. I think that’s a fun story to tell with John Diggle.”
Ramsey will next appear as John Diggle in “Through the Valley of Death”, the twelfth episode of Superman & Lois‘ first season airing Tuesday, July 13 on The CW.