Arrow to Bring Back Katie Cassidy as Season 6 Regular

There are still six episodes left in Arrow season 5, but we already have some news about next season. Welcome back, Katie Cassidy!

Arrow originally set up two leads: Stephen Amell’s Oliver Queen and Katie Cassidy’s Laurel Lance. An idealistic attorney, Laurel was clearly meant to be Oliver’s main love interest, keeping with the characters’ long-running relationship in DC Comics. When Oliver’s relationship with Felicity Smoak (Emily Bett Rickards) proved more popular with fans, however, the show altered its course and consigned Laurel to a supporting role. In season 4, it killed her off.

While Arrow often seemed at a loss for what to do with Laurel, showrunners Marc Guggenheim and Wendy Mericle at least appreciate Cassidy’s performance. They announced Monday that the actress will return to Arrow in season 6 as a regular.

No, this doesn’t mean Laurel will get resurrected like her sister, Sara. Rather, Cassidy will play Black Siren, Laurel/Black Canary’s doppelgänger from Earth-2. Black Siren was introduced in season 2 of The Flash before making her Arrow debut with the episode “Who Are You?” Unlike Black Canary, she’s a metahuman, obtaining her signature cry from the Central City particle accelerator explosion.

“Who Are You?” hinted at a potential direction for Black Siren. Transported to Earth-1 by the villain Prometheus to wreck havoc on Star City, she was detained by Oliver, who expressed hope for her moral redemption.

Guggenheim and Mericle’s decision to follow up on that storyline is exciting for a few reasons. First, it allows Cassidy to play different notes; cynical and deceitful, Black Siren has little in common with Laurel personality-wise. For viewers, it could also go a little ways toward making up for Laurel’s untimely demise. This is a perfect opportunity to explore the sides of Laurel that we never got to see, particularly her gradual disillusionment with the law, without cheapening her death.

If your show is set in a world with alternate universes, time-travel, and resurrection, you might as well take advantage of it.

Arrow airs Wednesdays at 8 p.m. EST on The CW. The season 5 finale is scheduled to air on May 24.

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