DC’s Birds of Prey movie is currently filming ahead of its release next year, but before that, The CW’s Arrowverse will offer its own take on the team of superheroines later this season on Arrow. Though the group’s name will likely be off-limits, it’ll still feature (a version of) one of the most perennial members of the squad, Laurel Lance.
Arrow showrunner Beth Schwartz broke the news to TV Line this week, explaining: “We are doing a Birds of Prey-inspired episode, that Laurel (played by Katie Cassidy) will be involved with.”
As fans will know, the other two major members of the Birds are Huntress and Barbara Gordon’s Oracle. The former was once a recurring character on Arrow, as played by Jessica De Gouw, but hasn’t been seen since season 2. Funnily enough, she appeared in an episode titled “Birds of Prey.” We’ve been wondering ever since then whether she’d return and this seems to be the best opportunity for that. However, it’s possible that Huntress’ role in the BoP movie – where she’ll be played by Mary Elizabeth Winstead – will prevent it from happening.
As for who could stand in for Oracle, well, that doesn’t take long to work out. Felicity’s long been Arrow‘s stand-in for Babs, right down to the plotline that saw her lose the use of her legs. Memorably, Oliver Queen briefly codenamed her “Oracle” a few seasons back before remembering that it was already taken.
If Huntress is a no-show, then the next obvious contender for this team-up is Dinah Drake (Juliana Harkavy), the current Black Canary, who replaced Earth-1’s Laurel when she died. Having Earth-2 Laurel work alongside her late doppelganger’s successor would mark a major moment in her redemption arc and we’d love to see it happen.
Speaking of which, Schwartz also promised that the Birds of Prey episode would be a hugely important one for Laurel’s rehabilitation. “We’ll get to see what happens in her overall redemption arc — whether she really did turn over a new leaf, or is she still the same evil Black Siren we met last season,” she said.
Be sure to catch Arrow‘s midseason premiere this Monday on The CW.