Black Siren turns black widow in the promo for next week’s Arrow episode, ‘Reversal’. When Laurel Lance was killed by Damian Darhk in Arrow season 4, many fans were devastated. The character had grown from a stereotypical angry ex-girlfriend and damsel in constant distress into a hero in her own right, over the previous few years. After battling alcoholism and the death of her sister, Laurel learned to fight so she could honor Sara by taking her place on Team Arrow. Through many injuries and near misses, she became Black Canary - a valuable member of the team - only to be taken away from both Oliver and audiences due to Darhk’s cruel revenge against her father.
It turns out, Katie Cassidy was far from done playing Laurel Lance after that. Since her death the character has appeared in flashbacks, and in The Dominator’s perfect universe as Oliver’s bride. However, the main way she has returned is as Black Siren, otherwise known as Laurel Lance’s Earth-2 doppelganger. A truly evil villain, she has often used her identical appearance to Laurel to manipulate Team Arrow, especially Quentin Lance - who allowed her to escape in the season 6 premiere with a stolen prototype for one of Mr. Terrific’s T-spheres.
Now, it looks like she is back to her evil ways in the promo for ‘Reversal’. Released by The CW, the promo shows Black Siren’s next move - one where she seduces and targets men in Star City. You can watch said trailer, above.
While Black Widow is a familiar name to comic book fans - due to the Marvel character, as well as a one-shot DC villain who fought Blackhawk - in this case, Curtis seems to be referring to Black Siren’s behavior rather than coining a new name for her. Black widow is a term for a woman who seduces and murders men for their money, named after the cannibalistic breed of spider.
It’s also interesting to note that the wig Black Siren uses here is very similar to the haircut Thea has had since season 3. Earth-1 Laurel Lance and Thea were especially close, though Black Siren probably does not know very much about their friendship. It is possible, however, that she chose the wig to torment Oliver, since the explosion on Lian Yu left Thea in a coma - further indicating that she is unaware that Diggle has taken over the mantle of Green Arrow (or maybe she just liked the wig).
Black Siren’s appearance in the season premiere left a lot of questions open. For starters, it is still not known what she wanted the T-sphere for. There is also a question of Lance, and whether he will blame himself for Black Siren’s future victims since he has now twice failed to kill her. It is possible some of those questions will be answered as Black Siren moves forward with the next part of her plan in ‘Reversal’.
Arrow continues with ‘Reversal’ on The CW next Thursday, November 2 at 9 pm.
