Captain Marvel and the 25 most empowering female superheroes of all-time

8. Laurel Lance Earth 1 – Arrow

Who plays her: Katie Cassidy

Powers/Abilities: No powers of her own, but trained at fighting and technical powers, including the sonic scream.

Why she’s so empowering: One thing you’ll notice about the majority of superheroes on this list is that they have some sort of ability. Whether they’re aliens or meta humans, they’ve gained their abilities through some sort of supernatural method or alien technology. That’s not the case for Laurel Lance, the Earth-1 version.

Why the Earth-1 version? Because this one is far more empowering than the version we currently have on our screens. That’s nothing bad about Black Siren on Arrow, but there’s something about the Black Canary.

She had heart and willpower. This was a woman who wanted to live up to her sister’s name. Despite being weak in many areas, including physical strength, she wanted to take down the villains when nobody else would step up. She put on the mask and the costume and put her life on the line.

While this isn’t a sign that we should all become vigilantes, it’s more about what this represents as inner strength. Things will always knock us down. People will tell us that we can’t do anything. Laurel makes it clear that you don’t have to listen. When someone knocks you down, you just pick yourself back up.

Plus, when out of her costume, Laurel would be the defender of the innocent. She chose to work to put the bad guys away through legitimate methods. Her good heart was there long before the costume and staff came along.