The first official photos of Laurel Lance (played by Katie Cassidy) as Arrow’s Black Canary are out! The new Black Canary will make her debut in episode ten of this season.

Thoughts:

• I dig the look of the outfit- it’s a little more complicated than Sara’s Black Canary getup- but there are an awful lot of belts and fasteners on it. Isn’t the point of a superhero outfit that it can be quickly put on for last-minute vigilante activities? I question the practicality of her suit, as I think it would take many minutes to fasten everything. Also, those over-the-knee boots don’t exactly look like they promote mobility. However, I’m pretty sure I’m overthinking this and fully expect that the show will not address or validate my concerns.

 

• In past seasons, Laurel has had brown hair, and in this season I have noticed she’s been lightening up her hair a little bit. In these pictures, she’s become a full-on blonde. It almost seems like she’s trying to BECOME Sara, rather than make the Black Canary her own identity.

• I wonder how much training she’ll have had by the time her character is introduced. It’s hard to tell what the passage of time is like in this show, but 10 weeks of training with a boxer on the side after work is probably not enough intensive training to really know what you’re doing in a real fight. (Note: I say this as someone who trained on weekends for 8 weeks in Krav Maga. I have a little experience in this area. It was not enough to become a badass ninja, sadly.)

What do you think of Laurel’s new look, and the return of Black Canary to Arrow? Will Laurel be a good fit on Oliver’s team, or do you think she’ll find her own path as a vigilante in this series?