Arrow: Gonzalez Responds to Wild Dog Complaints

CBR

Arrow Star Responds to Wild Dog Co-Creator's Costume Complaints

By Adam Fitch

Published Nov 2, 2017

Arrow actor Rick Gonzalez, who plays Wild Dog in the show, has responded to criticisms from the character's co-creator, Terry Beatty.

Arrow -- "Tribute" -- Image AR602b_0195b.jpg -- Pictured (L-R): Rick Gonzalez as Rene Ramirez/Wild Dog and Echo Kellum as Curtis Holt/Mr.Terrific - Photo: Robert Falconer/The CW -- ÃÂ© 2017 The CW Network, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

The CW isn't shy when it comes to altering superhero costumes for its series, and Arrow is no exception. One of the members of Team Arrow -- Wild Dog -- received a new suit for Season 6, and the character's co-creator took to Facebook to express his distaste. Now, Wild Dog actor Rick Gonzalez has responded to the criticism.

Speaking to Yahoo!, Gonzalez addressed Beatty's concerns head-on. “I did hear that Terry Beatty, the original creator of Wild Dog in the comic books, wasn’t too happy about [the costume upgrade],” the actor said. “And I totally get it. It can feel we’re not keeping the integrity of Wild Dog the same, especially by changing his look.”

Even though Wild Dog's look has changed rather drastically, Gonzalez assured Beatty -- and fans -- that the essence of the character will stay intact. “I promise you that Maya [Mani, the show’s costume designer] took everything from the original design and upgraded it and tried to make an homage to that [while at the same time integrating him into the Arrowverse],” he explained. “And I agree with him -- I love the original costume! It’s incredible.”

Beatty recently took to Facebook to state his dislike for the character's Season 6 revision, even going so far as to call the new costume "generic."

“This change erases any trace of the original Collins/Beatty concept for the character. I would not be surprised if his name gets changed before too long, as well,” Beatty said. “Whatever was unique about his ‘street level’ costume has been replaced with the current standard issue dark armored uniform — a generic ‘third Imperial Guard from the left/Death-Blood-Stroke-Stryke/Image big gun’ look. Sigh….”

Airing Thursdays at 9pm ET/PT on The CW, Arrow was developed by Greg Berlanti, Marc Guggenheim and Andrew Kreisberg. The series stars Stephen Amell, Katie Cassidy, Colin Donnell, David Ramsey, Willa Holland, Susanna Thompson, Paul Blackthorne, Emily Bett Rickards, Colton Haynes, Manu Bennett, John Barrowman, Echo Kellum, Josh Segarra, Rick Gonzalez and Juliana Harkavy.