According to showrunner Andrew Kreisberg, Arrow‘s tenth, eleventh and twelfth episodes of the season will focus on Laurel Lance’s metamorphosis into Black Canary.
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Kreisberg talked about next week’s big crossover event. What fans can expect to see during the Arrow/The Flash crossover episodes, or rather, who fans shouldn’t expect to see, is Laurel (Katie Cassidy).
“She’s not as present in these episodes, but that is because we’ve been building up to her appearance as the Black Canary. We sort of said that Sara was the Canary, but Laurel is the Black Canary. Episodes 10, 11 and 12 are a three-part trilogy that are about her. And episode 13 I think I can spoil, is called ‘Canaries.’ For fans of Laurel and for fans of Katie [Cassidy], they’re going to get more than their fill after the winter break.”
Laurel is set to become Black Canary by the midseason premiere this January, and while some fans are concerned that her transformation is happening too soon without much training, Executive Producer Marc Guggenheim told Entertainment Weekly that Laurel’s journey to becoming a hero is far from over.
“Just because you put on a mask and a costume doesn’t mean you’re a superhero. A mask does not a hero make. We’re really at the beginning of Laurel’s journey to becoming the Black Canary, not the end by virtue of the fact that she’s put on a costume.”
Driven by vengeance and desperation for taking up her sister’s mantle, Laurel will begin going out into the field. Her journey to becoming a hero will prove to be a painful one.
“It’s not like Arrow [Stephen Amell], Arsenal [Colton Haynes] or Diggle [David Ramsey] going out into the field. She gets punched, she gets hit, she gets injured. When she throws a punch, she doesn’t always connect. When she jumps off of something, she doesn’t always land on two feet. She’s a much more rougher and realistic kind of crime fighter.”
The episode titled “Canaries” will likely revolve around Sara Lance (Caity Lotz), whose murder in the season premiere has yet to be solved. The midseason finale, the ninth episode of the season, will bring the murder mystery to the forefront as Nyssa Raatko, daughter of Ra’s al Ghul and Sara’s former lover, gives Team Arrow an ulitmatum: find and punish Sara’s killer or watch Starling City burn at the hands of the League of Assassins.
Lotz is set to appear in upcoming episodes of this season as a result of a multi-episode contract. While her character, Sara, died in the premiere, season three will explore Sara’s time between when she disappeared from Lian Yu at the end of season two’s flashbacks and when she reappeared in Starling City at the start of season two.
Bex Taylor-Klaus is also set to reprise her role as Sin in episode 12 titled, “Uprising,” TVLine reported. Sin, has been absent since the start of the season, is said to play a pivotal part in the investigation into Sara’s death.
Arrow airs Wednesdays at 8 p.m. ET on The CW.
