Posted in: DC Universe, TV | Tagged: arrow, cw, entertainment, Rick Gonzalez, television, terry beatty, WIld Dog

Arrow Star Rick Gonzalez Addresses The Wild Dog Costume Controversy

Published Thu, 26 Oct 2017 09:40:05 -0500

There is a new Arrow on tonight that starts a series of episodes with a lot of changes, but one of the early changes involved the character of Wild Dog. First introduced in season 5 as one of the new recruits, Rene Ramirez had one of the most comic book accurate costumes in the Arrowverse. The character wore a goalie mask, a hockey jersey, fatigue pants and shoulder holsters. When the sixth season kicked off, the show gave Wild Dog a new costume, keeping the design of the mask, but upgrading everything with more visible body armor. A look that makes sense with the rest of the team.

Terry Beatty, co-creator of Wild Dog (with Max Allan Collins), spoke out against the change, taking to social media to speak his mind. He referred to it as a, "generic third Imperial Guard from the left/Death-Blood-Stroke-Stryke/Image big gun look."

Rick Gonzalez, the actor who plays Wild Dog, addressed this issue in an interview with the International Business Times.

I love the suit, and I totally understand Terry's take on it. He should feel very protective over the suit and everything that he created. You want to have that on screen.

I think what we did was we definitely honored the comic book and kept it very close in Season 5. I think that's an accomplishment in itself because not many other comic book films and TV shows do that or are even capable of doing that. But we managed to pull it off, and I think Season 5 was special, especially with having Wild Dog and his energy and just even the way he looked.

As for the costume itself, Gonzalez is very happy with it.

I think that this season I have to give props to [costume designer] Maya Mani and [concept illustrator] Andy Poon for creating a suit that I feel like gives a tip of the hat to last season. I haven't seen any of the fans point out the Wild Dog in the suit because it's in there. Maya specifically in the design kind of created, with the paneling and the way the suit looks, [a way] to kind of show off the dog and I challenge people to see if they can pick that out. To me it's really cool, and I think it kind of lends to the energy of Team Arrow and the way everyone else looks, but at the same time, still giving Rene his own bite, no pun intended.

Gonzalez, who was promoted to series regular this summer, is actively trying to raise funds for hurricane relief in Puerto Rico.

https://t.co/wHD2dHp8iO Please donate whatever you can. Puerto Rico is in a crisis. They need your help. Thank you. 🙏🏼#UnitedForPuertoRico pic.twitter.com/ouNORalxcw

— Rick Gonzalez (@officialrickg) September 29, 2017

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