Like many fans, I found myself disappointed when Laurel Lance met her demise during the fourth season of Arrow. Not only had I become attached to Katie Cassidy’s portrayal of the character, but Black Canary is one of the most important supporting characters in Green Arrow lore. If you could imagine Lois Lane having been killed off during Smallville’s run, you would have a pretty accurate parallel situation.
Over the summer, it was revealed that Laurel will be returning when Katie Cassidy signed a whopper of a deal that will see her become a series regular not only on Arrow, but also on The Flash and DC’s Legends of Tomorrow. This will likely come as a result of the upcoming “Flashpoint” story arc, which is set to alter each show existing in the “Arrowverse” in a variety of ways.
This past weekend at Salt Lake Comic Con, Cassidy herself confirmed that we will see her much sooner than some of us may have expected:
“I was in New Jersey doing Fan Fest and I found out literally on the Sunday. It was weird. I got an email from my producer and they’re like, ‘We want to have a meeting.’ And I was like, ‘Can you just tell me now?’ I just had this gut feeling. You know, it’s television and in this world, especially, anthing can happen. And I think that’s a positive thing, if you think about it. Because maybe, you know, bring them back. I don’t know. So, yeah, it was definitely tough, but I appreciate the last four and a half years that they wrote for me. I had such a great arc. As a character and an actor, that is such an amazing character to play and journey to go on.
“And coming up, you will see me in the premiere of Arrow, Season 5. Pretty exciting. And I will also be—they announced at Comic Con, which I’m safe to say—across all three shows: Flash, Legends, and Arrow, for this next year. So, I’m excited about that.”
One has to wonder if her appearance in the Season 5 premiere will be in that of a flashback or if she is indeed among the living again. If it’s the latter, we can only assume that Arrow‘s opening episodes pick up after the events of “Flashpoint,” but time will ultimately tell.
All will be revealed when Arrow returns for its fifth season on Wednesday, October 5 on The CW.
