Arrow: Juliana Harkavy Thinks Her Black Canary Costume Is “Awesome,” Anticipates Continuing Rivalry With Black Siren

Among the many positive things Arrow has had going for it since the very beginning has been that of well-designed costumes. Seeing Oliver Queen donning an outfit heavily influenced by Mike Grell’s The Longbow Hunters definitely set the precedent, but when Arsenal debuted his badass suit in season 3, it became obvious that his mentor had to up his game. Thus, the Green Arrow himself got some serious upgrades in seasons 4 and 5, the latter costume being so impressive that this writer now wears it regularly to conventions and other events.

Having debuted in season 5 herself, Juliana Harkavy’s Dinah Drake has already taken significant strides toward becoming Black Canary II (let it be said that Sara Lance was known only by “Canary,” so we’re not counting her), but her threads weren’t as stylish as those worn by her other teammates. That said, you could imagine our delight upon seeing her being granted a costume (set to be worn in season 6) that looks just as amazing as any of those discussed above.

Not surprisingly, Harkavy expressed her appreciation when speaking with press at San Diego Comic-Con:

“It’s awesome. Maya [Mari] did an awesome job. It looks amazing. It almost looks like — even the bow staff that goes with it — it looks amazing and moving and fluid. It’s comfortable, which is also great. It makes you feel like a total badass. Maya had the whole costume designed but there were bits and pieces that asked, ‘How does this make you feel, how does this make you stand,’ so there was a bit of playing around. When we finally landed on it, it just it felt right. It is her.”

Naturally, fans are expecting the rivalry between her and Black Siren to continue, a situation made doubly interesting due to the fact that the villain hailing from Earth-2 just so happens to be the evil doppelganger of Dinah’s predecessor. Here’s what the actress had to add when discussing her familiarity with the source material and if she thinks a rematch is on the way:

“I did a lot of research. I really wanted to make it my own. I’ve been slowly reading to see — I didn’t want to be too influenced.

“Yes. I love our fighting! Our fight scenes last year were so fun to shoot. I imagine so, yeah.”

Arrow returns for its sixth season on Thursday, October 12 on The CW.