Katie Cassidy made a big impact as Laurel Lance, aka Black Canary, in the hit series Arrow. But in a move that surprised both fans and Cassidy herself, her character was unexpectedly killed off.
It was an emotional blow for her, and viewers weren’t too happy about it either. Looking back, Arrow producer Marc Guggenheim even admitted that writing her off was a mistake.
How did Katie Cassidy react to her character being killed off Arrow?
Katie Cassidy’s time as Black Canary, in Arrow, came with its fair share of surprises, and as fans now know not all of them were pleasant. In 2016, after four seasons on the show, Cassidy was blindsided when she found out her character was being killed off.
The season had teased a major death early on, but Cassidy didn’t expect she’d be the one saying goodbye. In the Inside of You with Michael Rosenbaum podcast, she revealed,
I was angry at first, And I was emotional because I was sad, and I was angry because I was so happy.
To make things worse, she learned about it just before a fan convention in New York City.
When the Arrow team asked to set up a meeting, Cassidy had a bad feeling and pushed for answers right away, and that’s when she heard the news. She further added,
I feel like I’ve always been given the short end of the stick and I have to go, And I didn’t yell. I just cried because I was sad… I worked really hard on that show and that character, and I just loved it
What followed was an awkward weekend at the convention of dodging questions from eager fans, all trying to guess whose gravestone had appeared in the Season 4 premiere.
The show producer admitted it was a mistake!
When Katie Cassidy’s character, was killed off in Arrow, it sparked disappointment among fans, and their reaction didn’t go unnoticed.
Following the death, fans voiced their frustration, and the show’s ratings reportedly dipped. Marc Guggenheim, one of Arrow’s executive producers, even later admitted that writing off Cassidy’s character was likely a mistake. In the same podcast chat, she revealed,
I had the support of the fans because that Flash episode I went on … ratings, I guess, were great and … unfortunately, I guess after they killed me, I guess their ratings went down a little. I’m not sure, [Producer Marc Guggenheim told me,] ‘I think we may have made a mistake.’ And then I was back and like better than ever and happy.
Thankfully, Cassidy’s journey in the Arrowverse didn’t end there. She later made a return as Black Siren, an alternate version of Laurel from another Earth.
Fans were overjoyed to see her back and welcomed her with excitement and love. After the emotional blow of being written off, Cassidy was just as thrilled to return, and this time, it felt even more rewarding knowing how much the fans had missed her.
Watch the full interview here:
Arrow is available on Netflix.
This post belongs to FandomWire and first appeared on FandomWire
