Arrow is trying something new. Unlike the past few seasons, The CW series will bring its Season 6 villain Ricardo Diaz back for Season 7. According to Rick Gonzalez, who plays Rene “Wild Dog” Ramirez, this will shake up the series’ established formula.
“We’ve got Ricardo Diaz back! We didn’t kill off our villain. I mean, as a fan, I would be excited to see the energy in the show that doesn’t follow the normal parameters, like, ‘Okay, we finished the season. We’ve got to kill the bad guy. Oh, we didn’t do that!’ So it’s trying to like spice it up and trying to change the directive and the usual. So yeah, I’m excited about that,” Gonzalez shared at Comic-Con International in San Diego.
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While this is certainly the first time a major villain survived the season finale during Gonzalez’s three-year tenure on the series, it isn’t a first for Arrow. Season 1 antagonist Malcolm Merlyn and Season 2’s big bad Deathstroke both stuck around for quite some time, with Merlyn dying in years later Season 5 and Deathstroke surviving to this day. Season 3 villain Ra’s al Ghul, Season 4’s Damien Darhk and Season 5 antagonist Prometheus, on the other hand, met their ends in their respective season finales. Notably, both Merlyn and Deathstroke were both established as anti-heroes with personal connections to the team and later became uneasy allies for Team Arrow, while the others were villainous in every sense of the word. In terms of character, Diaz falls into the latter group, which should certainly pave the way for a new dynamic.
At the convention, Gonzales also weighed in on how the dynamic between Rene and his daughter Zoe might evolve this season. “I’m excited about Wild Dog and Zoe, seeing more of them together. I’m really hoping that there’s more interaction. I said that last year, but — for me — it’s like always seeing him with her just makes the character come to life. At the same time, also, seeing the darkness in Rene. To me, that’s fun. If I can show both of those, I’m so happy.”
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“I think [last season] only made him realize how much he loves his daughter and what he would do for her, but that probably also sent a message to her. So I think, for him, it’s not so much that he would put it down, being a superhero. It just means that he is a father and he is committed to that whole-heartedly, the same way he was committed to being Wild Dog,” he added. “I think maybe that kind of made him understand, ‘Okay, I’m a dad. I love my daughter, and I’d do anything for her.'”
Premiering Monday, October 15 at 8 pm ET on The CW, Arrow Season 7 stars Stephen Amell as Oliver Queen, David Ramsey as John Diggle, Emily Bett Rickards as Felicity Smoak, Rick Gonzalez as Wild Dog, Echo Kellum as Mr. Terrific, Juliana Harkavy as Black Canary and Katie Cassidy as Black Siren.