Arrow Promotes Two Cast Members to Series Regulars

As it prepares to enter a new phase, Arrow solidifies its season 6 cast by promoting Juliana Harkavy and Rick Gonzalez to series regulars.

We may not be getting new Arrow episodes these days, but we’re getting plenty of news about Arrow. Executive producers Marc Guggenheim and Wendy Mericle seem to be taking advantage of the show’s present hiatus to unveil tidbits about upcoming episodes and seasons.

The latest announcement feels more like a formality than a real surprise. Juliana Harkavy and Rick Gonzalez, currently recurring cast members, have been upped to series regulars for next season.

Gonzalez joined Arrow at the beginning of season 5. His character, Rene Ramirez, is one of the three amateur vigilantes Oliver originally recruited in the hope of rebuilding Team Arrow after Diggle and Thea’s departures. Short-tempered and impulsive, Rene earned the alias Wild Dog, a nod to the DC Comics character. The episode “Spectre of the Gun” revealed his past as a family man who donned his mask after a drug dealer killed his wife and he lost custody of his daughter.

Harkavy, however, showed up midseason. Oliver chose her character, Dinah Drake, to succeed Laurel Lance as the Black Canary. Before accepting Oliver’s invitation, Dinah was an undercover police officer obsessed with avenging the death of her partner/lover. She acquired her powerful cry in the Central City particle accelerator explosion. In addition to working with Team Arrow, she serves as an officer in the SCPD.

Again, Gonzalez and Harkavy figuring prominently into the show going forward doesn’t come as a surprise. Oliver’s flashbacks are drawing to a close, suggesting Arrow will be able to focus on other characters in the future. Rene and Dinah (along with Echo Kellum’s Curtis Holt) have also readily assimilated into the team dynamic. This does confirm that both characters will survive the season, which is good to know.

They aren’t the only cast members to receive a promotion in season 6. At the end of March, we learned that Katie Cassidy will return to Arrow as Black Siren, Laurel’s Earth-2 double. Cassidy appeared as Black Siren in the season 5 episode “Who Are You?”

Earlier this week, Arrow announced that two other characters will return: Oliver’s long-time foe Slade Wilson/Deathstroke, played by Manu Bennett (or not?), and Nyssa al Ghul, played by Katrina Law. The former will appear in the season finale, while the latter has a multi-episode arc involving Nyssa’s fraught relationship with her sister Talia.

Arrow returns to The CW on April 26.

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