Katie Cassidy was the second-billed star on The CW's Arrow for its first four seasons, and the show's decision to kill her character off in Season 4 was a bold move that shocked many viewers. Of course, the subsequent announcement that Cassidy would appear on multiple shows in The CW's DC universe alleviated some of the worries of fans who would have missed her, and she has popped up a few times. Now, however, Arrow is bringing Cassidy back full-time. She has been signed as a regular for Season 6... with a twist.
When she returns to regular status on Arrow, Katie Cassidy will not play the version of Laurel Lance we came to know over the first four years of the show. Instead, she'll be playing the villainous Earth-2 version of Laurel, known as Black Siren and currently being held prisoner by ARGUS. Earth-1 Laurel will evidently be staying dead, but Arrow has found a way to kinda sorta bring the character back anyway. DC Comics reports that Cassidy will reprise the role of Black Siren in the final two episodes of Season 5 before returning all the way in Season 6.
Black Siren has made three appearances in The CW's DC universe so far. She first popped up in Season 2 of The Flash, shortly after Earth-1 Laurel's murder. Black Siren was a minion of Zoom's, but was captured and imprisoned by the end of her debut episode. Unfortunately for Team Arrow, Black Siren broke out of STAR Labs and traveled to Star City at the behest of Prometheus to trick Oliver and Co. into (somewhat bafflingly) believing that their Laurel was alive again. Although Oliver showed interest in reforming the evil Laurel into a person more like Earth-1 Laurel, Black Siren resisted and was taken away by ARGUS.
The facts that Black Siren survived her Arrow appearances and wasn't shipped back to STAR Labs meant that the odds were good that she'd be back on Arrow again at some point, but I don't know that many fans would have guessed that she'd be back as a regular for Season 6. Black Siren is such an over-the-top character that she almost fits better with the tone of The Flash than Arrow, and Team Arrow is already pretty full. Assuming Oliver wants to continue his efforts to reform her into a hero, she'll probably be brought onto the team.
Either there's going to be an upcoming vacancy on Team Arrow or Oliver will need to build a new wing for the bunker just to make room for everybody. If there is an upcoming vacancy, I only hope that it's not because something awful happened to Thea. The poor girl has suffered enough. I also can't help but wonder if Katie Cassidy's return as Black Siren means bad news for the new Black Canary. Both characters have a metahuman Canary Cry, and having two ladies with the same superpower on board the same show could get old very quickly. As somebody who is more interested in the new Dinah than Black Siren, my fingers are crossed that nothing terrible happens to her to allow Black Siren's status as a regular.
Tune in to The CW on Wednesdays at 8 p.m. ET to catch new episodes of Arrow. Katie Cassidy's next appearance in The CW's DC universe will take place in the Season 2 finale of Legends of Tomorrow on April 4. Be sure to take a look at our rundown of all the 2017 TV renewals and cancellations so far, and don't forget to check out our summer TV premiere schedule.
