Danny Brickwell

Danny Brickwell
Biological Information
Species	Human
Status	Deceased
Universe Information
Home universe	Earth-1
General Information
Occupation	Inmate of Slabside Maximum Security Prison (formerly) Mobster (formerly)
Code name	Brick
Actor	Vinnie Jones

"Together, we are going to take over The Glades."

—Danny Brickwell to the freed inmates of his plan.^[src]

Daniel "Danny" Brickwell, (died November 2018) better known by his street name Brick for his borderline superhuman durability, was a criminal mobster. His name was on "The List". Brick was responsible for killing Rebecca Merlyn as part of a gang initiation. In 2015, Brick planned to conquer the Glades with his gang but his scheme was foiled by Team Arrow while he was defeated by Malcolm Merlyn. Brick was imprisoned at Iron Heights until he was broken out by Damien Darhk, whom he briefly joined until arrested again. Afterwards, he was incarcerated at Slabside Maximum Security Prison before being killed three years later by Stanley Dover.

Biography

Early life

Danny kills Rebecca Merlyn.

Daniel Brickwell started out as a street-thief in the Glades. His first victim was Rebecca Merlyn, whom he killed in a mugging simply because she begged for her life.

Brick then became a notorious criminal mobster using the name "Brick", feared by many residents of Starling City, including Roy Harper.

Under unknown circumstances, Brick's name ended up on The List, though Malcolm Merlyn was unaware of his role in Rebecca's murder.

Takeover of the Glades

In early 2015, seeking to take over The Glades, Brick orchestrated the theft of evidence against criminals still awaiting trial to have them released from lack of evidence and to join his crew. When confronting one of his men who shot a cop stealing schematics of the evidence locker, Brick gave the man a choice to shoot him or be killed. However, Brick beat him to death anyway. Later, Brick and his men stormed the building to steal the evidence, despite resistance from John Diggle and Arsenal, and got away. He also employed unknown means to survive a head-shot. All the criminals incarcerated based on the evidence he stole were released and Brick forced them into his gang, threatening to send it to the D.A. if they refused, and informed them of his plan to seize the Glades.

On Quentin Lance's orders, a team was sent to arrest Brick and his men, but he put most of them in the hospital. Later Brick stormed a meeting of the city's most elite where Mayor Celia Castle, 3 aldermen, ADA Laurel Lance, Quentin, Ray Palmer and Felicity Smoak were present. Brick ordered the Mayor and the aldermen be brought with them but to kill the rest. His men only succeeded in taking the aldermen as everyone else fought back. Brick later contacted Mayor Castle and ordered a meeting between the two in person or else the aldermen would die. Later Brick transported the aldermen to his hideout, but not before Arsenal and Black Canary attempted to stop him. When Arsenal shot an arrow into Brick's arm, an enraged Brick shot one of the aldermen in front of them and dumped his body on the street. He later met with Mayor Castle, Quentin and Ray and ordered all police to leave the Glades or the other aldermen would die. Arsenal and Black Canary stormed Brick's hideout and freed the aldermen but when Black Canary confronted Brick again he still overpowered her, forcing her to run. Though he lost the aldermen, he later informed Mayor Castle that he had the addresses of every city official in the city, forcing her to order the evacuation of the Glades.

With all the cops gone, Brick and his men quickly took control off the Glades. He made his men extort the people living in the Glades and took the abandoned police precinct as his headquarters. Learning that two of his men encountered Arsenal but got away, he gave them his gun and ordered them to kill him in order to survive. One guy went for the gun, but Brick grabbed it first and shot him. The power went out and Brick quickly rallied his men, ordering them to shoot anything that moves. Black Canary and Arsenal took out some of his men but Brick went for a shotgun and started to shoot flares at them. Knocking them down, he moved in with his gun to finish them off, but his hand was shot with an arrow by the Dark Archer and he fled.

He later left his headquarters as Black Canary and Arsenal approached him again. He rallied his goons and seemingly outnumbered them, but then their army, including Diggle, Sin and Wildcat, arrived. Brick ordered his men to fight Team Arrow's army and also engaged Wildcat, who managed to hurt Brick, despite Brick eventually coming out on top. Black Canary and Arsenal came to Wildcat's rescue, forcing Brick to run. When in an alley, however, he was confronted by the Dark Archer again who fought him, but Brick lost as the Dark Archer subdued him. He revealed his identity as Malcolm Merlyn, Rebecca's husband, who angrily pointed his gun at him and prepared to execute him. However, The Arrow appeared, trying to persuade Malcolm to spare him if he truly wanted to make things right, and Malcolm ultimately agreed. Brick was promptly arrested and incarcerated.

Working with Damien Darhk

After Damien Darhk took over Iron Heights Prison, Brickwell was released. Shortly after, Darhk requested to see him and Murmur in the H.I.V.E. headquarters. Despite being annoyed to be there, Brick took Darhk's "errand" to kill Noah Kuttler.

Hours later, Brick and some Ghosts managed to find Noah's hideout. Danny offered to make it painless, though Noah shot him and ran in response. Brick found him moments later and offered him his usual routine of giving him a fighting chance. Before Noah could respond, Brick was shot in the hand with an arrow by the Green Arrow. They fought momentarily before the vigilantes fell back. Later that night, they engaged in another fight, in which Green Arrow won. It is unknown what became of Brickwell after the battle but it can be assumed he was taken into custody along with Amar.

Meeting the Green Arrow in prison

Danny Brickwell is indeed taken into custody again. Three years later, he is one of criminals that Oliver Queen meets again in custody along with Derek Sampson and Ben Turner/Bronze Tiger. Oliver is seen confronting Danny, Derek and Ben in the prison yard to injury Derek. Danny agrees give information about Diaz in exchanges to get rid of one of the prison guards.

Death

Later, when Ricardo Diaz arrives to Slabside Maximum Security Prison, he tries to kill Green Arrow with Derek Sampson but is defeated by Ben Turner allied with Oliver. Later, he is stabbed in the side by Stanley Dover while he tries to escape. Brickwell dies of his injury while Stanley escapes.

Personality

"Brunette? Ha ha ha! Yeah. Now I remember. She was my first, my initiation into the Orchid Bay Butchers. Heh heh heh."

"You murdered her because you wanted into a gang?"
"No. Because she was weak! Because she was crying, begging me not to kill her, but you won't get that from me, so come on! Finish it!"

—Danny Brickwell and Malcom Merlyn^[src]

Brickwell was a violent career criminal who desires nothing but power, He killed his first victim just because she begged for her life, which he considered a sign of weakness. He was an ambitious leader and was able to win people for his cause. In order to keep his men in line he used brutal methods to show his power and make an example of them. When a man fails he gives him his gun and tells them they can try to kill him or he will kill them. He then proceeds to beat them to death with his bare hands, in front of his other men. 

Brickwell was cruel, sadistic and unstable as he enjoys hurting and killing people, he took joy in beating Laurel Lance and John Diggle, and killed an alderman as revenge for Roy Harper shooting an arrow in his arm. When Malcolm Merlyn defeated him and was preparing to execute him, he mocked him and said he killed his wife, Rebecca because she was weak. He expressed no guilt or remorse in anyway for the suffering he had inflicted on others.

When Brickwell realized that his plan to take over the Glades had failed, he tried to goad Malcolm into killing him so he would not do any jail time before being stopped by the Arrow.

Abilities

• Peak of human physical condition: While once at peak physical conditioning in his younger days, Brickwell has since "gone to seed" as he reached middle age. Despite this, he is still a highly fit individual. From his constant gambit of giving his victims a chance to kill him first, he has repeatedly shown great speed and reflexes, with tremendous physical strength, regularly striking his target before they even get a chance to fight back, at one point beating a man to death with only a few blows and he could even fairly quickly outpace and best other physically powerful individuals, such as John Diggle and Ted Grant. He even managed to challenge the Green Arrow at one point.
• Expert hand-to-hand combatant: Brickwell was highly trained in bare-handed combat. Using an effective brawling style and powerful fist strikes, he was able to beat a man to death and easily subdue Laurel Lance. Against highly trained combatants like John Diggle and Ted Grant, he was able to swiftly beat his opponent into submission. However, his combat skills were inferior to Malcolm Merlyn's highly skilled combat style; but this was due to already taking a beating from Wildcat and he could stand up to Green Arrow before being beaten. With help from Ben Turner and Derek Sampson, Brickwell could fight and beat Oliver who was holding back. Alongside Sampson, Brickwell was able to fight and hold his own against Oliver when he fought to kill, although he needed to cheat to overpower him. He was also able to hold his own against Turner in their first encounter but he was easily defeated and stabbed by the rope Turner had in their last brawl.
  • Skilled marksman: Brickwell was capable in the use of firearms.
• Indomitable will/High tolerance for pain: Brickwell's body was (seemingly) inhuman in terms of durability, able to withstand physical trauma as extreme as John shooting him in his head, as the bullet only grazed his skin and he was unfazed by the attack. However, he is still vulnerable, as he is seen able to visibly bleed and be in pain from being shot by an arrow, though he quickly recovered. In an actual fight, he is able to take multiple blows from weapons and fists with only minimal damage. During his fight against Ted, a professional and master fighter, Danny took the initial beating before quickly rebounding. Danny still has limits as to how much punishment he can withstand as he was quickly toppled by Malcolm with just two strikes (albeit possibly contributing to the damage Ted already inflicted), Oliver was able to eventually knock him out with a few blows and Turner could quickly injure him with just a few blows and having his neck stabbed by and used as a rope climber was able to incapacitate him. 
• Intimidation: As a mobster, Brickwell was feared by those who lived in the Glades. He was able to threaten Mayor Celia Castle into removing police presence in the Glades by telling her he had the homes addresses of all the city officials.
• Expert tactician/Leader: Brickwell was skilled at leading the members in his criminal organization. He was also highly trained at formulating plans. He had evidence that was used against criminals awaiting trial so that they would be released and would be a part his gang.

Equipment

• Gun: Brickwell carries a gun he used his entire career. He proudly claimed he killed every one of his victims with that gun. He gives this particular gun to his victims and allows them to try to shoot him.

Appearances

Arrow

Season 1 "Pilot" (mentioned) "Honor Thy Father" (mentioned) "Dead to Rights" (indirectly mentioned) "Sacrifice" (indirectly mentioned) Season 3 "Left Behind" "Midnight City" "Uprising" "Nanda Parbat" (mentioned) Season 4 "Monument Point" "Lost in the Flood" (mentioned) Season 5 "Legacy" (mentioned) Season 7 "Inmate 4587" "The Longbow Hunters" "Crossing Lines" "The Demon" (mentioned) "Due Process" "The Slabside Redemption"

Comics

Arrow

• "From the Darkness" (flashbacks)

Trivia

• Danny Brickwell is inadvertently the catalyst for the events of the whole Arrowverse in the present day of Earth-1, from 1993 onward.
  • Murdering Rebecca Merlyn led to Malcolm seeking out Ra's al Ghul and train with him to become the Dark Archer, then plan the Undertaking, the events of which would lead Oliver to becoming Green Arrow.
  • Oliver's time on Lian Yu led to Slade Wilson becoming Deathstroke and Sara Lance becoming White Canary.
  • Oliver's actions as a vigilante led to John Diggle becoming Spartan, Felicity Smoak becoming Overwatch and Adrian Chase becoming Prometheus.
  • Slade's plan led to Roy Harper becoming Arsenal, Ray Palmer becoming The Atom and Nate Heywood becoming Steel (due to Ray).
  • Sara's death led to her sister, Laurel Lance, becoming Black Canary.
  • Oliver's heroics inspired to Barry Allen to use his meta-human powers to become The Flash, which would in turn indirectly lead to Eobard Thawne becoming Reverse-Flash almost two centuries later.
  • Eobard's time travel into the past led to Cisco Ramon becoming Vibe, Caitlin Snow becoming Killer Frost, Leonard Snart becoming Captain Cold, Mick Rory becoming Heat Wave, Martin Stein and Ronnie Raymond, and later Jefferson Jackson becoming Firestorm, Clifford DeVoe becoming The Thinker, and Orlin Dwyer becoming Cicada.
  • Sara, Ray, Snart and Mick would go on to form the Legends.
  • Eobard's actions also indirectly led to a future Barry becoming Savitar.
• Brick is one of the few people on The List to not be a one-percenter.

Behind the scenes

• In the DC comics, Brick was a meta-human enemy of Green Arrow, with skin that gave him invulnerability and super strength.
• Brick has similarities with Batman character Joe Chill; Joe was responsible for the murder of Thomas and Martha Wayne, thus steering Bruce on his path of becoming Batman, while Brick killed Rebecca Merlyn and was thus responsible for Malcolm Merlyn turning into the Dark Archer. However Malcolm's actions as a result of Brick's actions indirectly led to Oliver becoming Green Arrow.