All 8 Black Canary actresses ranked from worst to best

5. Alaina Huffman

Appeared In: Smallville

Smallville‘s diversion into the more heroic territory post-Season 5 brought with it some of DC’s more famous heroes and, with that, came the introduction of Dinah Lance/Black Canary. This time, the screaming superhero was portrayed by Alaina Huffman and it was certainly an edgier interpretation that what we were used to seeing.

An expert martial artist who knew a thing or two about throwing knives and possessed a metahuman Canary Cry, this iteration of the character was initially hired by Lex Luthor and took great pleasure in causing havoc for Clark Kent and Green Arrow. When she found out what he was up to, however, she joined Oliver Queen’s heroic team as they set out to save the world.

Though parts of the character didn’t initially work – the initial short-haired look didn’t feel very Black Canary and the Cry was more of a roar than anything else – Huffman brought Dinah to life in a way that felt completely loyal to her comic book counterpart. She was empowering, formidable and larger-than-life – and her Season 10 look (with the long hair, black jacket and the fishnets) was arguably the most comic-accurate Canary look we’ve ever seen on-screen.

Perhaps the most underrated of all the Black Canaries, Huffman ensured that we remembered her in spite of only appearing in six episodes.