Katie Cassidy portrays the several multiverse versions of the character within the Arrowverse, all of whom are mostly referred to by their middle name, "Laurel", unlike the comics.

The character also appears in spin-off shows The Flash and Legends of Tomorrow[1] as well web series Vixen, which are all set in the same shared fictional universe.

[3] This version of Laurel is gradually redeemed in the following seasons of Arrow and eventually assumes the heroic 'Black Canary' moniker, like her late Earth-1 counterpart.

Following the events of the sixth annual Arrowverse crossover "Crisis on Infinite Earths", Earth-2 Laurel is revived in the rebooted universe called Earth-Prime.

[10] In season two, Laurel becomes an Assistant District Attorney,[11] but also struggles with Tommy's death, leading her to fight her own battles with alcoholism and use of prescription drugs.

[32][33] At her funeral, Oliver reveals Black Canary's real identity to the public to stop Evelyn Sharp's impersonation from inadvertently labeling her as a criminal.

[39][40] In season 8, Laurel appears as a speed force illusion in Arrow's episode of Crisis on Infinite Earths, where she mourns Sara's death alongside Diggle.

[42] Black Siren is introduced in The Flash season two's twenty-second episode "Invincible" as a criminal and member of Zoom's metahuman army.

[2] Her scream is a metahuman power that she uses to take down buildings on Zoom's order, but is stopped by Barry Allen / The Flash's team and imprisoned at S.T.A.R.

[46][47] In season six, Black Siren works with criminals Cayden James and Ricardo Diaz, and becomes a recurring menace for Team Arrow.

[48] Morally conflicted Earth-2 Laurel is persuaded and supported by her late Earth-1 counterpart's father Quentin Lance who remains optimistic about her redemption.

[55] A flashforward set in 2040 shows Laurel working with a female vigilante group known as the Canary Network while helping a resistance movement against Galaxy One.

[42] In January 2012, after The CW ordered a television pilot for a potential Green Arrow series, its executive producers Andrew Kreisberg, Greg Berlanti and Marc Guggenheim developed the character of Dinah "Laurel" Lance, based on the Black Canary from DC Comics.

The official character breakdown pitched Laurel as "a 28 years old, smart sexy, legal aid attorney determined to use her life as a one-woman war".

[72] Regarding the differences between the characters on the show and in the comics, Warner Bros. Television president Peter Roth stated in an interview with TVLine, "We are working very closely with DC.

"[71] In DC Comics, Dinah Laurel Lance is one version of Black Canary, a superhero in her own right, and a love interest and eventual wife of the Green Arrow.

[74] However, the series takes a different route and introduces the character as a legal attorney and childhood friend of Oliver Queen, with whom she shares a romantic past.

[75] In an interview with TV Guide, then-executive producer Andrew Kreisberg revealed that Lotz's character was the beginning of the Black Canary's story.

[77][78] Before assuming the mantle, Laurel's character goes through various personal tragedies such as losing her boyfriend Tommy,[10] being kidnapped multiple times, dealing with her father's alcohol-addiction,[9] and then her own addiction[12] and finally witnessing Sara's murder in the season 3 premiere.

[79] The-then showrunners and executive producers Marc Guggenheim and Wendy Mericle cited the decision to kill off Laurel as a "creative choice", at a press screening.

[81] In May 2016, Cassidy appeared as Laurel Lance's Earth-2 doppelgänger known as Black Siren on The Flash, which had already introduced the concept of multiverse in its then-ongoing second season.

[104] [105] [106] [107] Angelica Jade Bastién of Vulture wrote in her review that, "The Flash better serves Laurel than Arrow did in several seasons – Black Siren has swagger".

[104] The Arrow season seven episode "Lost Canary" focuses primarily on Earth-2 Laurel's eventual redemption, which mainly garnered positive reviews.

In his review, Schedeen wrote, "...this version of the character has never been more sympathetic or identifiable than when confronting the death of a world where she finally found happiness.

Her ultimate decision to bounce back and continue saving the living in order to honor the dead feels like the culmination of a major arc for this character.

"[111] Cassidy provided the voice for the Earth-1 version of her character in the second season of the CW Seed Arrowverse animated web series Vixen.

[120] The third season of Legends of Tomorrow ultimately changes the continuity of Vixen, resulting in an altered timeline where Mari McCabe now shares the 'Vixen' mantle with Kuasa.