Black Canary in other media

Black Canary is a DC Comics superhero, who has appeared in television, animated shows, and video games since 1979. She is a superhero vigilante who fights crime using martial arts and a sonic scream attack.

Live action

Danuta Wesley as Black Canary on her signature motorcycle in Legends of the Superheroes.

Legends of the Superheroes

In 1979, the character appeared in two television specials Legends of the Superheroes, where she was portrayed by Danuta Wesley.

Birds of Prey

When the short-lived 2002 television series Birds of Prey was first announced, the producers indicated that the teenaged Dinah Redmond, a runaway teenager with psychic abilities, would be a reimagined Black Canary. Early publicity material referring to her directly by that name. A second character named Carolyn Lance appeared later, portrayed by Lori Loughlin, a retired superhero formerly known as the Black Canary who was the estranged biological mother of Dinah Redmond (played by Rachel Skarsten). In her only appearance, Carolyn's Canary Cry is activated by whistling, rather than screaming.

Smallville

Alaina Huffman as Dinah Lance/Black Canary

The television series Smallville, featured Dinah Lance in a season seven episode entitled "Siren" where she was played by Alaina Huffman.^[1] She wears a long brunette wig, while acting as a controversial conservative columnist and talk-show host for the Daily Planet in Metropolis. By night, she uses her metahuman ultrasonic scream to become a vigilante/mercenary. In this incarnation, she has short blonde hair and a tiny faux domino mask created from black makeup with streaks of yellow. In the episode's dénouement, Dinah agrees to join Green Arrow's team of pro-active heroes, and flirts with Oliver through her critical comments about his ex-girlfriend Lois Lane (Erica Durance). Dinah subsequently appears, on numerous occasions, as a member of Oliver's league. The season nine two-parter "Absolute Justice" further suggests that another woman had been a member of the Justice Society of America some decades previous under the name Black Canary.

Arrowverse

Caity Lotz (left) and Katie Cassidy (right) as Sara Lance (Canary) and Dinah Laurel Lance (Black Canary) respectively in the television series Arrow, on the sixth episode of its fourth season titled "Lost Souls".

Katie Cassidy as her character's villainous parallel universe equivalent Black Siren in The Flash.

Laurel Lance

• Katie Cassidy^[2] portrays Dinah Laurel Lance in the television series Arrow, this version is a legal aid attorney and goes by her middle name. Cassidy also reprises her role in its various spin-offs including The Flash and Legends of Tomorrow. At the beginning of series she works for a legal assistance group called CNRI, she is also Oliver Queen’s ex-girlfriend who is stunned to see him return after being presumed dead for five years but is still angry at him for cheating on her with her younger sister and apparently getting her killed. Laurel also deals with her alcoholic father, Detective Quentin Lance, her relationship with Tommy Merlyn, Oliver’s best friend, and her work as a lawyer to help the people of Starling City. Over the series, Laurel comes to see how different Oliver is and begins to forgive him for his betrayal she also sometimes works with The Hood, unaware that he is actually Oliver. Laurel briefly rekindles her relationship with Oliver after Tommy breaks up with her but it is short-lived after Tommy dies saving Laurel’s life from a burning building. In season 2, Laurel in now an Assistant District Attorney but also struggles with Tommy’s death leading her to become an alcoholic before sobering up. Laurel also learns that her sister is alive and later figures out that both she and Oliver are the vigilantes, The Canary and The Arrow, respectively. In season 3, after Sara is murdered, Laurel resolves to become a vigilante to find her killer and to help people as her sister did. This leads her to begin combat training with Ted Grant and later Nyssa al Ghul, she eventually takes over her sister’s mantle and names herself the The Black Canary officially joining Oliver’s team after his disappearance and return.^[3] As Black Canary, she uses a black side-handle baton as her trademark weapon and later uses an updated version of her sister’s sonic device called the “Canary Cry” that was designed by Cisco Ramon. In season 4, Star City becomes the target of numerous terrorist attacks launched by H.I.V.E. and despite Laurel, Thea, and Diggle's efforts they are unable to stop them; realizing they are outmatched Laurel and Thea bring Oliver back to aid them. Laurel discovers Thea’s revival using the Lazarus Pit and decides to resurrect Sara the same way, however, the side effects of the pit renders Sara a soulless being driven to kill Thea for killing her; eventually Laurel and Oliver restrain and with the aid of John Constantine they are able to restore her soul. Laurel later discovers that Quentin has been reluctantly working for H.I.V.E.’s leader, Damien Darhk, after he threatened to kill Laurel. Laurel with her father’s testimony is able to imprison Darhk for his crimes, but after Darhk escapes he mortally wounds Laurel in retaliation for Quentin betraying him. Laurel eventually dies in a hospital from her injuries, but not before admitting to Oliver that he is the love of her life and ask him to keep an unrevealed promise. After Laurel’s death, a teenager named Evelyn Sharp usurps the Black Canary mantle and labels her a criminal. At Laurel’s funeral, Oliver reveals her identity as the Black Canary to savor her image as a hero, and her identity as Black Canary is left on her tombstone. Oliver later swears to kill Darhk for Laurel’s murder and eventually succeeds in the season 4 finale. Cassidy appears in an episode for season 2 of Vixen.^[4] Executive producer Wendy Mericle revealed to TV Guide that there's still plans for Cassidy's character on the series.^[5] It was announced that Cassidy will be a series regular for all of the Arrowverse shows.^[6] However it's unknown if it will be Black Canary or Black Siren she appears as. The Season 5 premiere reveals in a flashback that Oliver's promise to Laurel was to not let her be the last Canary of Star City. She appears in the 100th episode of Arrow called Invasion!.
  • Cassidy portrays the Earth-2 version of Laurel Lance in The Flash episode "Invincible." She is a villain rather than a hero who is a member of Zoom's metahuman army. She is known as Black Siren, a callback to the Golden Age Justice Guild of America member from the Justice League animated series, and unlike her Earth-1 counterpart does have the sonic scream as a metahuman power. Laurel uses her scream to take down buildings on Zoom's order to distract the Flash and almost takes him down until she is stopped by Wally West. When Laurel is ordered to take down a highly populated area, Caitlin Snow and Cisco Ramon disguise themselves as their villainous Earth-2 counterparts to distract them until a machine that renders the Earth-2 meta humans unconscious was activated. Laurel is then held prisoner at S.T.A.R. Labs.^[7]

Dinah Lance

• Alex Kingston portrays Dinah Lance, Laurel and Sara's mother. After Sara's apparent death, Dinah left her husband and her surviving daughter. Six years later, however she returns to Starling City to make amends with her family and to reveal her theory of Sara being still alive.^[8] In season 2, she comes back when Laurel almost overdosed and later finds out that Sara is indeed alive, reuniting with her long lost daughter. In season 3, Dinah is informed by Laurel that Sara was murdered, with Laurel promising she will avenge Sara's death. In season 4, Dinah learns that Sara has returned once more after she calls her. She later returns to Star City when Laurel is killed and attends her funeral and learns that she was the Black Canary.

Sara Lance

Caity Lotz as Sara Lance/White Canary in DC's Legends of Tomorrow.

• Caity Lotz portrays Sara Lance, who was originally portrayed by Jacqueline MacInnes Wood in the pilot before the character was recast. Sara is Laurel’s younger sister, who was sleeping with her sister’s boyfriend, Oliver, during boating accident that presumably killed them both. During season 2, Oliver discovers that Sara actually survived the accident and was rescued by Dr. Anthony Ivo, she is later with Oliver on the island and witnesses the beginning of blood feud between him and Slade Wilson before being presumable killed once more. She is eventually rescued by Nyssa al Ghul of the League of Assassins, and out of gratitude for saving her joins them. During her time with the League she becomes known as The Canary (Yellow Bird) (Arabic: الطائر الأصفر Ta-er al-Sahfer) and uses a sonic device and a pair of extendable batons which combine into a bō staff. Eventually she and Nyssa fall in love but their relationship is frowned upon by Nyssa’s father and the League’s leader, Ra’s al Ghul. After committing a large number of assassinations for the League, Sara leaves them and returns to Starling City to look after her family and reunites with Oliver who is now a vigilante. Nyssa attempts to bring Sara home to the League but eventually Nyssa reluctantly releases her from the League after Sara poisons herself and almost dies in her arms. Sara later becomes a part of Oliver’s team and his lover once more and finally reconciles with her sister. Sara eventually ends her relationship with Oliver and rejoins the League in order to use their forces to defeat Slade’s army. In season 3, Sara returns to Starling City to locate Malcolm Merlyn but is murdered by Thea Queen under Malcolm’s influence in order rid himself of Ra’s. In season 4, Laurel resurrects Sara using the Lazarus Pit, but leaving her soulless being before her soul is restored by John Constantine. In Legends of Tomorrow, Sara become a member of Rip Hunter's team to travel through to time in order to stop Vandal Savage's rise to power in 2166. Sara is reluctant to go as she is still suffering from the side effects of the Lazarus pit but is eventually convinced by Laurel to go with before providing her a new uniform and codename, White Canary. During her time with team, Sara regains her sense of humanity and befriends Kendra Saunders and Leonard Snart, which becomes romantic and is upset after his death. Sara eventually returns to her time 5 months after she left and learns about Laurel’s death at the hands of Damien Dark. She tries to force Rip to go back and save her but he reveals in the original timeline that if Sara had stayed Darhk would have killed both Laurel, their father, and Sara herself and any alteration would result in her death or the team’s death. After Savage is killed, Sara departs with Rip again but not before visiting Laurel’s grave to continue her mission in honor of her sister. In season 2, it is revealed that Sara has not given up of averting Laurel's fate through time-travel; she intends to kill Darhk years before his eventual confrontation with her sister. With Rip Hunter missing after he scattered the team across time before using the Waverider to intercept a nuclear bomb aimed for New York in 1942, Sara becomes the team's new leader as their best tactician in Rip's absence.

Evelyn Sharp

• Madison McLaughlin portrays Evelyn Crawford Sharp, a teenager who along with her family was imprisoned by H.I.V.E. and brainwashed into being obedient servants, as seen in "Dark Waters". When Malcolm Merlyn destroyed the facility trying to kill Damien Darhk all the "volunteers", including Evelyn's parents, were killed but Evelyn managed to escape. She did however witness Laurel's attempt to rescue them and came to idolize Black Canary but came to resent Green Arrow for not being there, as Oliver wasn't present in his suit at the time. In "Canary Cry" after Laurel is killed by Damien, Evelyn sneaks into the hospital and steals her canary cry collar, designs her own Black Canary suit and begins targeting H.I.V.E. as Black Canary but isn't afraid to use lethal force. She targets Damien's wife Ruve Adams and attempts to shoot her in public. However Oliver is able to talk her out of her vendetta reminding her that Laurel would never kill in cold blood but her actions inadvertently brand Black Canary as a criminal, but Oliver is able to savor Laurel's image by revealing her secret to the public. Evelyn is later seen in the distance watching Laurel's funeral. It is greatly implied that she somehow knew Laurel's secret prior to it being made public. She returns in Season 5 as she takes the mantle of Artemis and becomes the member of Team Arrow, but in the episode "Vigilante" it was revealed that Evelyn is also in league with Prometheus making her a possible double agent within the team.^[9]

Animation

Justice League and Justice League Unlimited

Black Canary, as she appeared in Justice League Unlimited.

In the Justice League episode "Legends", the League teamed up with the Justice Guild of America in an alternate universe. The Guild member Black Siren was based on the Golden Age Black Canary, Dinah Drake. She was voiced by Jennifer Hale. The Siren's real name was given as Donna Nance on her tombstone.

In the sequel series Justice League Unlimited, Black Canary was voiced by Morena Baccarin. She was first seen in a small cameo at the end of "Initiation", where her looks are enough to convince Green Arrow to stay in the League. She first appears as a main character in "The Cat and the Canary". She was vexed because her old mentor, Wildcat, had been obsessively engaging in underground fighting tournaments, and she convinced the smitten Green Arrow to help her convince Wildcat to return to the League. She and Green Arrow start a relationship, as seen in "Double Date", thereby paying homage to their famed romance in the comics. She also started a rivalry with Huntress. This version of Black Canary also appeared in the Justice League Unlimited spin-off comic book.^[10]

Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths

Black Canary briefly appears as a back-up member of the JLA in the film Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths. She has one line in the film ("Wanna hear a secret?") and is voiced by Kari Wuhrer. A Parallel Earth version of Black Canary, named Scream Queen, also appears. This is the first time that the character has been shown in her modern costume outside of the comics.

DC Showcase: Green Arrow

Black Canary appears in the DC Showcase: Green Arrow short film included on the Superman/Batman: Apocalypse DVD with Grey DeLisle reprising her role.^[11] In the short she's seen as Oliver Queen's girlfriend that he's picking up at the airport and has plans to propose to her, which he does after he defeats Merlyn and she saves him from Count Vertigo. She accepts calmly, yet happily and the short ends with the two kissing.

Batman: The Brave and the Bold

Black Canary in Batman: The Brave and the Bold.

Black Canary has been featured in the animated series Batman: The Brave and the Bold in the teaser of the episode "Night of the Huntress!", voiced by Grey DeLisle. She and Batman teamed up to stop Solomon Grundy from getting a new brain from a genius. She is Batman's main partner in the musical episode "Mayhem of the Music Meister!". Batman asks her to stay and keep watch of Black Manta, the Clock King, and Gorilla Grodd, after the first encounter with the Music Meister ("I'm The Music Meister"). She follows him instead, to the dismay of Green Arrow. The two fight against Music Meister ("The World is Mine!"), and Black Canary gets controlled again. Black Canary is also featured in the main plot of "The Golden Age of Justice!". Tired of being treated like a kid, Dinah Lance convinces Wildcat to have her help the rest of the Justice Society of America. Her mother, the original Black Canary, is seen in flashbacks, eventually dying after being crushed by debris during a fire. After Wildcat put his regret of being unable to save Dinah Drake behind him, they go off and help the rest of the Justice Society and Batman defeat Per Degaton. She returns in "The Mask of Matches Malone!", as one of the Birds of Prey.

Young Justice

Black Canary appears in Young Justice voiced by Vanessa Marshall.^[12] She is a recurring character and serves as the combat trainer for the members of Young Justice.^[13] Series co-creator Greg Weisman has said her role on the show was in part because she is his favorite character in the DC universe.^[14] In "Disordered," she holds a therapy session with each of the members of the team after what happened in Martian Manhunter's mind-training exercise. Black Canary's relationship with Green Arrow is touched upon in the series: in "Homefront," Red Tornado mentions he is taking over monitor duty at the Watchtower for Green Arrow because he has "a hot date with Black Canary". In the first season finale, "Auld Acquaintance," she is brainwashed by Vandal Savage and attacks the kids, only to be knocked unconscious by Robin and Rocket. After being restrained and gagged, she is freed from her mind control and attempts to help the team free the other brainwashed JLA members. At the end of the episode, she and Ollie set out with Red Arrow (who is revealed to be a clone of Roy Harper) to find the real Roy. Black Canary returns in Young Justice: Invasion which is set five years after the previous series. In "Salvage," Black Canary assists Green Arrow, Guardian, Nightwing, and Kid Flash in Red Arrow's intervention where Red Arrow is still trying to find the real Roy Harper through whatever way possible.

DC Nation Shorts

Black Canary appears with Green Arrow in the 2014 DC Nation Short: Green Arrow shorts Brick and Onomatpoeiabot.

Mad

Black Canary appears in an episode of Mad voiced by Tara Strong. She joins the other superheroes in a musical number that asks Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman about being called "Super Friends." In her part, she stated that she once asked Superman to feed her cat only for Superman to go save the Louvre.

Video games

Justice League Heroes

Black Canary appears as a playable character in the PSP version of Justice League Heroes voiced by Jennifer Hale.

Batman: The Brave and the Bold – The Videogame

Black Canary is a playable support character in Batman: The Brave and the Bold – The Videogame, voiced again by Grey DeLisle.

DC Universe Online

Black Canary appears in DC Universe Online voiced by Kelley Huston. Players can interact with Black Canary. If the player is on the superhero campaign, they get to fight alongside her. If the player is on the supervillain campaign, they get to fight her. As a bonus, her sonic abilities are able to be bought as a powerful scream or a whirlwind of supersonic energy.

Lego Batman 2: DC Super Heroes

Black Canary appeared in Lego Batman 2: DC Super Heroes, voiced by Kari Wahlgren.^[15]

Injustice: Gods Among Us

Black Canary appears in IOS version of Injustice: Gods Among Us as a support card for Green Arrow. In addition, during the game's story mode Green Arrow carries a picture of Black Canary in his arrow case. There is also concept art that contains multiple ideas for how she would look in the game, suggesting that she may have been planned as a playable character at one point.

Lego Batman 3: Beyond Gotham

Kari Wahlgren reprises her role as Black Canary in Lego Batman 3: Beyond Gotham. Additionally, the Sara Lance version is playable via downloadable content.

Music

In 2016, DC Comics released a three-track EP called EP 1 to promote the comic book, in which Black Canary becomes the lead singer of a band that shares her name.^[16]

References