6 Times Arrow Improved Green Arrow Mythology (& 4 Times It Failed)
Failed To Improve...
4. Butchered Black Canary
No one character is as important in the comics to Green Arrow as Black Canary. Not only do these two so often fight side-by-side, not only do they become romantically involved, but Oliver Queen and Dinah Laurel Lance actually become man and wife.
Upon Katie Cassidy being confirmed to be playing Laurel Lance in Arrow, the seeds were already sown amongst longtime DC fans that we’d eventually be getting Black Canary. And we did! Well, kind of.
The first Canary was actually Sara Lance, with Caity Lotz’s totally-not-dead Sara being a brilliant, badass Canary. That was until she was killed… and then resurrected again courtesy of a Lazarus Pit.
Laurel Lance did indeed take up the moniker of Black Canary, of course. Yet the problem was, this Laurel just felt a little off. The way that the character was written, she was a complete and utter hindrance to Team Arrow as she began to suit up. And not just in a ‘learning the ropes’ kinda way, for Laurel became a drag on the entire show – to the point that when the character was killed off, nobody really cared.
Thankfully, the Dinah Drake version of Black Canary proved to be a great addition to Arrow, and the show has even made amends in how it's handled the Earth-2 version of Laurel Lance.