Black Canary in other media

Adaptations of Black Canary in other media
Created by	Robert Kanigher Carmine Infantino
Original source	Comics published by DC Comics
First appearance	Flash Comics #86 (August 1947)
Films and television
Television show(s)	Legends of the Superheroes (1979) Birds of Prey (2002) Justice League Unlimited (2004) Arrow (2012)

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^[2] portrays Dinah Laurel Lance in the television series Arrow, who is re-imagined as 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. Laurel is Oliver Queen's ex-girlfriend and works for a legal assistance group called CNRI. Her father, Quentin Larry Lance (Paul Blackthorne) is a detective in the Starling City Police Department. Laurel, and is torn between the returned Oliver Queen and the relationship she formed with his friend, Tommy Merlyn (Colin Donnell), while Oliver was presumed dead. It was mentioned that Laurel once sported fishnets as a Halloween costume prior to the series, a nod to the comic book character. Laurel would often team up with the vigilante known as Arrow, without being aware that the man under the hood was actually her ex-boyfriend, Oliver. Laurel briefly rekindles her relationship with Oliver, after Tommy broke up with her, until Tommy's death, in the first season's finale, while he was trying to save Laurel's life from a burning building. In season 2, she starts off as an Assistant District Attorney but she also struggles with depression because of Tommy's death. She eventually learns that her sister is alive and later figures out that both she and Oliver are vigilantes. In the season 2 finale, Sara gives Laurel her jacket before she leaves with the League of Assassins. In season 3, she becomes an unofficial partner of Oliver. At the end of the season premiere episode "The Calm" Laurel sees her sister Sara shot by multiple arrows, and starts a detective work to locate the killer. Beginning with "Corto Maltese," Laurel resolves to follow in Sara's footsteps. She starts training in Ted Grant's "Wildcat" gym and later on she is trained by Nyssa Al Ghul. She eventually takes over Sara's mantle and becomes the Black Canary, officially joining Team Arrow after Oliver's disappearance and continues her vigilante activities after his return.^[3] She also uses a black side-handle baton as her trademark weapon after Laurel finds that she is unable to wield Sara's bō proficiently. Laurel also appears in The Flash episode "Who is Harrison Wells?" where she talks to Cisco Ramon, a friend of Barry Allen / The Flash visiting Starling City to investigate Harrison Wells, and reveals her identity to him to get him to build her a new version of the sonic weapon Sara used. Cisco agrees, in exchange for a picture of him and Black Canary together, and suggests it should be called the "Canary Cry". 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 and Quentin have also made amends since Ra's al Ghul's attack. Laurel later discovers Thea's revival using the Lazarus Pit and decides to bring Sara back the same way. However the effects of the Lazarus Pit cause Sara to become unhinged and tries to kill Thea for killing her, but once restrained Oliver and Laurel with the aid of John Constantine are able to restore her soul. Laurel later discovers that Quentin has been working reluctantly for H.I.V.E.'s leader Damien Darhk, giving up the locations of key individuals and leading to their deaths. Quentin tells Laurel it was to protect her as Damien threatened her but she becomes embittered towards him as she can handle herself, Quentin admitting he didn't believe she could because Sara said the same before she died. Laurel is later able to prosecute Damien. Laurel also appears in the first of Legends of Tomorrow where Sara tells her of Rip Hunter's mission to travel through time to stop Vandal Savage from conquering the world in 2166. Though Sara herself is skeptical Laurel convinces her to go and gives her a new white version of her suit, designed by Cisco, and gives her the moniker "White Canary". She is wounded by Damien and later dies of her injuries in the episode "Eleven-Fifty-Nine", but not before admitting to Oliver that he is and always was the love of her life and asks him to keep a yet to be revealed promise. Laurel's funeral in "Canary Cry" is attended by Team Arrow, her parents, Nyssa even Barry, though shows up late because of an encounter with Zoom. Around the same time Evelyn Sharp, a teenager who idolized Black Canary, takes up her mantle in a crusade to kill Ruve Adams and avenge her parents but uses more lethal methods. When Evelyn holds Ruve at gunpoint Oliver is able to talk her out of murdering her, convincing her that Laurel would never murder in cold blood and she drops her crusade. Despite this Evelyn's actions inadvertently label Black Canary are a criminal but Oliver reveals Laurel's identity as Black Canary to the public to savor her image, and her identity as Black Canary is left on her tombstone.
  • Cassidy will portray the Earth-2 version of Laurel Lance in an upcoming episode of The Flash who is a villain rather than a hero who fights Barry upon his return to Earth-2 Central City. She will be known as Black Siren, a callback to the Golden Age hero from the Justice League animated series.^[4]

• 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.^[5] 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.

• Caity Lotz portrays Sara Lance, Laurel's younger sister who is also Oliver's ex-girlfriend, who also survives the yacht's sabotage and later leads a double life as a vigilante like Oliver. Sara was initially portrayed by Jacqueline MacInnes Wood in the pilot before the character was recast. As depicted in the second season, Oliver discovers Sara is alive, having been saved by Professor Ivo (Dylan Neal). She spends some time on the island along with Oliver before being presumed to be dead once again. She gets saved by Nyssa al Ghul of the League of Assassins and out of gratefulness towards her decides to train with them, and eventually Sara and Nyssa fall in love. However she is disliked by the group's leader, Nyssa's father, Ra's al Ghul who sees Sara as an outsider and a distraction to Nyssa. Sara eventually becomes embittered towards the League after committing a large amount of murders for them and secretly returns to Starling City and becomes the vigilante known as The Canary (Yellow Bird) (Arabic: الطائر الأصفر Ta-er al-Sahfer), a name she took when she joined the League. She uses a hand-held sonic device and a pair of batons which combine into a bō staff. Sara stays with Oliver and becomes a member of his team until she decides to return to the League. In season 3 Sara returns to Starling City to locate Malcolm Merlyn for the league but is murdered by an unseen archer and in her grievance Laurel decides to take up her mantle. It is later revealed that Thea Queen murdered Sara under Malcolm's manipulations as part of his own agenda to rid himself of Ra's. Sara appears in halluciations to Laurel when she is induced with Werner Zytle's vertigo drug where she belittles Laurel for trying to take her place but Laurel is able to overcome these hallucinations and defeat her inner demons and embrace her own identity as "Black Canary". In season 4 Laurel resurrects Sara using the Lazarus Pit, but leaving her soulless and mentally fractured. However, Sara's soul was finally restored thanks to the efforts of Oliver, Laurel and John Constantine. But after killing one of Dahrk's men due to her bloodlust on a mission to save Ray Palmer / Atom, a friend believed to be dead, Sara decides to leave Star City to find a way to control herself. Lotz reprises the role of Sara Lance as a main character, in the spinoff Legends of Tomorrow. She wears a white version of her Canary suit and goes under the moniker of White Canary, a new codename suggested by Laurel. Sara is recruited by Rip Hunter along with Ray, Leonard Snart, Mick Rory, Kendra Saunders, Carter Hall, Jefferson Jackson and Martin Stein to travel through time to stop the immortal tyrant Vandal Savage, who conquered the world in 2166. Sara is still affected by her bloodlust and struggles to maintain control. Though Rip claims he recruited them because they are considered legends in the future Sara and the rest of the team later discovered that Rip lied to them, and they were recruited because they are forgotten by history in his time. However the team decides to remain on the mission convinced they can alter their fates. When Sara, Ray and Kendra are accidentally marooned in 1958 Sara believes Rip is dead and isn't coming back and rejoins (from her perspective) the League of Assassins. When Rip and the team return in 1960 and Sara saves Ra's al Ghul from Chronos' attack, Ra's releases Sara from her vows. Before leaving however Sara tells Ra's to send her yet to be born daughter Nyssa to Lian Yu in 2008, revealing that Sara was the cause of her own younger self being saved by Nyssa and falling in love with her, and giving Nyssa her name. After regaining her sense of humanity she becomes more open and friendlier to the team and becomes close friends with Kendra, and teaches her to fight like she does to prepare her for her inevitable fight against Savage, as Kendra is the only one who can kill him.

• Madison McLaughlin portrays Evelyn Crawford Sharp, a teenager who along with her family was abducted and imprisoned by H.I.V.E. and brainwashed into being obedient servants, as seen in "Dark Waters". When Malcolm Merlyn destroyed the facility attempting 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.

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.^[6]

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.^[7] 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.^[8] She is a recurring character and serves as the combat trainer for the members of Young Justice.^[9] 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.^[10] 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.^[11]

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.^[12]

References

1. Sands, Rich (2007-11-01). "Exclusive: Black Canary Swoops into Smallville". TVGuide.com. Retrieved 2007-11-01.
2. Byrne, Craig (2012-02-15). "Arrow Finds Its Canary - And It's Katie Cassidy". GreenArrowTV.com. Retrieved 2012-02-15.
3. Abrams, Natalie (2015-01-11). "'Arrow': Black Canary steps up now that Oliver has 'fallen'". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 2015-01-11.
4. Abrams, Natalie (April 4, 2016). "Arrow's Katie Cassidy to appear on The Flash, Vixen". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved April 4, 2016.
6. Black Canary's appearances in Justice League Unlimited at the Grand Comics Database
7. "DC Animated Showcase: Greg Weisman Interview, Part 1". YouTube. Retrieved 2011-01-15.
8. G-Man (2010-07-24). "Comic-Con: Brave and the Bold & Young Justice Panel". Comic Vine. Retrieved 2010-07-26.
9. Pepose, David. "NYCC 2010: Young Justice Video Presentation & Q&A Live!" Newsarama. October 9, 2010. Retrieved February 4, 2011.
10. http://www.s8.org/gargoyles/askgreg/search.php?qid=12657
12. McMillan, Graeme. "DC Entertainment Releases 3-Track EP to Promote 'Black Canary' Comic Book". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 3 March 2016.