Arrow season 8: Stephen Amell confirms the identity of new Black Canary

Stephen Amell and David Ramsey have confirmed that the new Black Canary is indeed Black Siren – the formerly villainous Earth-2 version of Laurel Lance.

Arrow Season 8 is, without a doubt, one of the most heavily-anticipated TV events of the 2019-2020 season, as it will serve as the veteran show’s final offering and the precursor to the long-teased Crisis On Infinite Earths crossover.

Due to the fact that the Crisis will cast such a huge shadow over the final season, Oliver Queen has found himself drawn into the madness and will be spending much of the last 10 episodes travelling across the multiverse to presumably recruit heroes.

Recently-released photos of the season premiere excited fans as they showed Green Arrow and longtime friend John Diggle/Spartan teaming up with Laurel Lance/Black Canary – who was sporting a brand new look.

In a recent interview with Entertainment Weekly, Stephen Amell and David Ramsey teased what fans can expect from Arrow‘s final season, with the latter referring to the extent of which the trio would team up.

"“Their dynamic is incredible… A good chunk of what we’re doing will be with the three of them in a way that they haven’t been before.”"

Of course, most expected this Canary to be Black Siren – the formerly villainous Earth-2 version of Laurel who had recently redeemed herself and become the Black Canary.

Arrow — “Starling City” — Image Number: AR801b_0067b.jpg — Pictured (L-R): Stephen Amell as Oliver Queen/Green Arrow, Katie Cassidy as Laurel Lance/Black Siren and David Ramsey as John Diggle/Spartan — Photo: Jack Rowand/The CW — © 2019 The CW Network, LLC. All Rights Reserved. /

However, given the new look (which didn’t gel with the fact that, 20 years in the future, Laurel still sports the original Black Canary uniform) and the multiverse properties of Season 8, some fans speculated that this was a different, more traditionally heroic version of Laurel.

That, however, is not the case, as Amell would take Ramsey’s comments further, referencing the history that Oliver has had with this Laurel and, in the process, confirming that this “new” Black Canary is indeed the former Black Siren.

"“I’ve loved our scenes in the first two episodes… I thought it was important at the end of season 7, us shaking hands and Oliver saying thank you. It was scripted to the group, but I wanted to make sure, going into season 8, that it was actually to her and that they shook hands, because as character I purposefully never called her Laurel until that moment. So her being the mix this year, it’s been a lot of fun.”"

He also made time to praise long-time co-star and leading lady, Katie Cassidy Rodgers, who he has worked opposite for almost all of the show’s eight seasons, telling EW that “she’s nailing it”.

While Cassidy is undoubtedly capable of pulling any version of Laurel off, it’s great news that the Black Canary we see in Season 8 will be the one we’ve spent the past three years getting to know.

Arrow season 8: Stephen Amell confirms the identity of the new Black Canary

By Michael Patterson | Sep 13, 2019

Stephen Amell and David Ramsey have confirmed that the new Black Canary is indeed Black Siren – the formerly villainous Earth-2 version of Laurel Lance.