In a casting move that caused Arrow fans to tilt their heads and go Bzuh?, the show has chosen a new actress to play Black Canary even though there are already two characters on the show who could be versions of Black Canary because they, y’know, share her backstory. And her name. But now there’s a third character in the mix.
So. Many. Dinahs.
The actress in question is Caity Lotz, who starred in the low-budget horror flick The Pact and showed up in a few episodes of Mad Men‘s fourth season. To go off on an indie sci-ti tangent (you know I love my indie sci-fi), she also stars in The Machine, an amazing flick about artificial intelligence where she plays two roles and is absolutely amazing in both of them. It’s on the festival circuit right now, but if it ever comes to a theater near you you should see it like 12 times. It’s that good.
Moving on.
DC Women Kicking Ass has a more in-depth version of how exactly bringing in a new Black Canary is weird continuity-wise, but the short version is that at a certain point Black Canary has been two women: Dinah Laurel Lance and her mother Dinah Drake Lance. Arrow already has a Dinah “Laurel” Lance (Katie Cassidy), and her mother in the show (Alex Kingston) is named Dinah Lance. And now Lotz’s Black Canary will reportedly be named Dinah Drake.
Writes The Wrap:
“While the Black Canary will start out as a recurring role, Lotz is expected to eventually become a series regular, as her character will be groomed as a love interest for Arrow (Stephen Amell).”
Arrow, I’m not sure if what you’ve just done here is monumentally stupid or impressively original. Only season two will tell.
Aaaand here’s an update, courtesy of executive producer Andrew Kreisberg:
“There’s been a bit of misinformation printed out there and what I would say is, yes, Caity Lotz is joining the show in a recurring role and we’re really excited. She’s a tremendously talented actress. The character she’s playing is really the beginning of the story of the Black Canary.”
Also, he chose not to reveal her name, so we can assume the show won’t be suffering from Dinah overload, after all.
So… she’s not Black Canary, but she’s somehow involved with her origin story?
*throws up hands* I give up, Arrow.
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