Arrow season 6: Rick Gonzalez, Juliana Harkavy promoted to series regulars
Mere days after we wrote a piece advocating for the series-regular promotion of one Rick Gonzalez (Rene Ramirez a.k.a. Wild Dog), The CW confirmed that he will have just that moving into the next season of the show. Meanwhile, the same goes for Juliana Harkavy, who plays the role of Dinah Drake a.k.a. the new Black Canary for the team.
Given the recent status of both characters on the show, the promotion for the two is not a surprise. Both have already shown great potential — Gonzalez in particular was at the center of one of our favorite episodes in “Spectre of the Gun” — and there is much more story that can be told for each of them.
We suppose that if there is a surprise here, it could be some wondering how two Canaries can exist. Remember that Katie Cassidy was recently promoted to series regular for her role as Black Siren, and the one thing we’d tell you as a result of that is this — Katie is not playing a Canary. Don’t just assume that she’s going on some redemption tour and will be the Black Canary for Team Arrow coming into the future. That’s Dinah’s job now seemingly, and we’ll see how she evolves into that. We do think that it’s certainly possible Black Siren is the new Big Bad, a woman tired of being a hired gun for people like Zoom and Prometheus, and as a result of that someone intent on paving her own future. Or, maybe she is a partner in crime to someone like Slade Wilson. Manu Bennett is also returning for the finale, but there is no guarantee that he will stay a part of the series for long beyond that episode given his status on MTV’s The Shannara Chronicles, which films down in New Zealand, a country he also calls home.
The Arrow season 5 finale is filming this week, and we imagine that Harkavy and Gonzalez both have important roles to play in the story. Season 6 should begin filming at some point in the summer, and there will be further news to pass along at around that time.
What do you think about both Rick Gonzalez and Juliana Harkavy receiving these promotions right now? Sound off with your thoughts in the comments below! (Photo: The CW.)