As far as we and the characters in Arrow know, Oliver Queen has been killed at the hands of Ra's al Ghul. That will mean some new heroes have to step up to take his place in Starling City, with one of them being Laurel Lance's Black Canary. Talking to Comic Book Resources, Katie Cassidy had this to say about her debut as the popular superhero. "On January 21, you will see Laurel in the suit and becoming Black Canary -- but just because she suited up doesn't necessarily mean she's good, first of all," she revealed. "But it's part of her journey. In Season Three, she goes from avenging her sister's death, to honoring to her sister, to basically becoming her sister, but her own version of it. And she really steps up to the plate, I think. Now that Oliver's gone, [she] takes the reins and is like, "I got this." She's a strong woman, and I think she's going to kick some butt."
As for the opportunities becoming this costumed character allows her, the actress had this to say about some of the new interactions we'll see as Black Canary makes her presence felt. "In Season Two, it was great to finally be in the Foundry -- and the Lair. It was so cool. I was in there a lot, and it's awesome. I loved being a part of the A-story. I love working with Emily [Bett Rickards]. She's wonderful. Our characters, we have a really, really incredible interaction in Episode 13, and she is just wonderful. So I love working with her. I love working with Colton [Haynes] and David Ramsey. I don't really work with the three of them that often -- or haven't. Now, I work with them a lot! It's great." Finally, a big part of the character is obviously her canary cry, a blast of sound waves used to take her enemies down. As for how and when it will factor into the series, Cassidy added: "We haven't seen that yet. But I do feel like maybe at some point, Laurel will have her own version of it, and maybe it won't be necessarily in the same form [as the comics]."