On “Lioness,” LaMonica Garrett is best known as U.S. Marine and QRF operator Tucker, a member of Joe’s (Zoe Saldaña) team who always comes through when the mission calls. But before Garrett entered into the larger Taylor Sheridan universe of prestige Paramount dramas, he filled a major dual role on The CW’s long-running Arrowverse.
First appearing in quick cameos at the end of episodes of “Supergirl,” “Arrow,” and “The Flash,” Garrett was officially revealed to be Mar Novu, “The Monitor,” in the three-part “Elseworlds” event in 2018. As a lead-up towards the larger five-part “Crisis on Infinite Earths” crossover the following season, Garrett’s Monitor aimed to test the multiverse for champions who could stand against his anti-matter counterpart: Mobius, the villainous Anti-Monitor.
Garrett was upgraded to an Arrowverse series regular in 2019 to secure his availability for the five-part event. Not only was he credited as main cast for every portion of the “Crisis” crossover — making him the only cast member to be considered a “series regular” across the majority of Arrowverse programs (minus “Black Lightning”).
LaMonica Garrett was overjoyed to join the Arrowverse
For DC Comics fans, the importance of the Monitor and Anti-Monitor cannot be understated. The characters were vital to the original “Crisis on Infinite Earths” comic book crossover of the mid-’80s, from which the Arrowverse event derived its name and basic plot. Garrett always understood this and consulted DC lore when playing the character. “I read comic books anyway, so that was good research,” he once told TVLine.
Still, playing two antithetical roles proved difficult, especially given the crossover’s intense shooting schedule. “It was a challenge, especially on certain days where I do needed to be — like, the days where I was on one set doing both characters was — it was still challenging,” he recalled to CBR. “There were times where, say, I’m on ‘Arrow’ all day, and then I have to be on [‘Legends of Tomorrow’] at night, and ‘Arrow’ ran over.”
After “Crisis on Infinite Earths” ended, Garrett was written out of the television franchise. With the Anti-Monitor defeated and Mar Novu killed off (well, before Oliver Queen rewrote reality), the character appeared only once more in an uncredited cameo during the “Arrow” series finale “Fadeout.” Although Garrett has yet to show up on any other live-action DC Comics show, we wouldn’t rule it out in the future.
