Peter Stormare Becomes New Vertigo For Arrow
By Steve Lam
Season 3 of The CW‘s Arrow is quickly becoming a full house. Today, we have the announcement that Peter Stormare will become the new Count Vertigo in the hit superhero series.
Peter Stormare, a Swedish film, stage, voice, and television actor, has been performing since 1978. On film, Stormare made appearances in quite a few popular blockbusters. His impressive movie credits include The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997), Armageddon (1998), The Big Lebowski (1998), Minority Report (2002), Bad Boys II (2003), and this year’s 22 Jump Street. It also seems that Stormare is not all that unfamiliar with the comic book genre also. He was Lucifer in 2005’s loosely adapted Constantine starring Keanu Reeves in the titular role, and as Gabriel in 2010’s Dylan Dog: Dead of Night. In the realm of animation, he was the voice of Dracula in The Batman vs. Dracula feature-length animated film.
Count Vertigo, whose real name is Werner Zytle, starts off as an individual who was born with an ear defect. This requires an implant for him to overcome his impairment. Zytle later discovers that by modifying the implant, he’s able to affect people’s balance and perception. Using this newly found ability, Zytle becomes Count Vertigo and embarks on a life of crime.
SPOILER WARNING: Those who are not up-to-date with The CW’s Arrow can continue reading at their own risk.
Count Vertigo is not a new character for The CW’s Arrow. In Season 1’s Episode 12, Oliver Queen runs into the first incarnation of Count Vertigo when he’s investigating a series of drug-related deaths. The drug was named Vertigo and the leader of the drug dealers was given the name The Count due to dual syringe marks on victims’ necks. This version of Count Vertigo was played by Seth Gabriel.
In Season 2’s Episode 7, Oliver kills The Count after The Count threatens to inject Felicity with his Vertigo drug. As the new Count, Stormare will be playing Werner Zytle from the comics and act as the new leader of the Vertigo drug ring.
Season 3 of Arrow will premiere on Wednesday, October 8, 2014 at 8:00PM EST on The CW.