Katie Cassidy played Arrow's Laurel Lance and while her transformation into Black Canary was a little convoluted, fans embraced the character and weren't happy when she died in season 4.
That came as part of the big "Who's in the grave?" mystery that lasted right up until Damien Darhk killed Lauren in a moment that faced a significant amount of backlash at the time.
During an interview with Michael Rosenbaum, Cassidy reflected on being dropped from the series and initially not being concerned about Black Canary being in the grave when the season 4 premiere aired. However, things changed in the build to that year's New York Comic Con.
Arrow showrunners Marc Guggenheim and Wendy sent an email to the cast - shortly before they'd be filming the mystery character's death scene - and Cassidy recalled, "For whatever reason, my stomach just dropped. I immediately text Marc Guggenheim, who I adore, 'I’m fired, aren’t I?' I was like, 'Marc, I have a sick feeling in my stomach, please don’t make me wait the weekend. Please, can we get on a call tomorrow?' He said, 'Wow, you’re really intuitive. I’ll call you tomorrow.'"
A conference call with Guggenheim and executive producers Greg Berlanti and Andrew Kreisberg followed. "Marc said, 'Listen, unfortunately, I have to tell you you’re the one that’s in the grave.'" Admitting that she was "angry at first" and "emotional," she pointed to there being bigger issues at play.
"I have theories," Cassidy started before trailing off. "I think it was political" (for what it's worth, Guggenheim has previously suggested Laurel's death came as a result of there being "a lot of cooks in the kitchen").
Cassidy did say she had one "anger moment" on the call and told the creative team, "I just have to say I feel like I’ve always been given the short end of the stick," before telling them she had to go, hanging up, and crying. Arrow's lead Stephen Amell later "called me immediately and was like, 'I’m so sorry, I don’t want it to be you.'"
Cassidy was then forced to attend New York Comic Con and had to feign ignorance, despite being "crushed." On the plus side, she later returned in The Flash as Earth-X's Black Siren and, after guest starring across the Arrowverse's TV shows, returned to Arrow for season 6 as Earth-2's Laurel Lance.
"I did get a call after Flash aired, from Marc, that said, 'Would you come back as a series regular? I think we may have made a mistake.'' And then I was back and better than ever and happy."
In hindsight, Cassidy now says, "Quite frankly, them killing me off took every other series regular and sends these other characters spiraling in different directions and reacting. It’s storytelling and I don’t take it personally. I think they did a great job in writing for me, quite frankly, and I got a lot to play with. So for that I’m grateful."
You can watch the full interview with the Arrow alum in the player below.