Arrow‘s Katie Cassidy Now a Series Regular Across All CW Hero Shows — Stephen Amell Teases Her Return
Katie Cassidy is the latest Berlantiverse actor to ink one of those cool new deals, by which she is now a series regular across multiple CW superhero shows — namely The Flash, Legends of Tomorrow and her original stomping grounds, Arrow (on which she will appear in the Season 5 premiere).
Wentworth Miller, who transitioned from The Flash to Legends (for a one-season stint), was the first actor to sign such a grounbreaking pact; Arrow vet John Barrowman followed, earlier this month. Both Miller and Barrowman, it has since been announced, will play key roles in Season 2 of Legends, as Captain Cold, Malcolm Merlyn, along with Reverse-Flash (played by The Flash‘s Matt Letscher) and Damien Darhk (Arrow‘s Neal McDonough), form the Legion of Doom.
Shortly after Cassidy’s Laurel Lance was killed off of Arrow this past spring, Cassidy popped up on sister series The Flash, as Miss Lance’s Earth-Two doppelganger, the minxy metahuman Black Siren.
UPDATE: As for Cassidy’s first appearance of the coming TV season, Stephen Amell said at a Sunday Nerd HQ panel that in Arrow‘s season opener, we will find out what Laurel made Oliver promise, before she died. “It’s something that’s going to have a lasting impact not just in our season premiere, but over the next couple seasons of the show,” he said. “It’s very important. It’s going to be critical to whatever the legacy of our show is.”
Want more scoop on Arrow, or for any other show? Email insideline@tvline.com and your question may be answered via Matt’s Inside Line.
I am imagining the irrational KC haters foaming from their mouths. :D
And here was I imagining the people who were upset Laurel was dying being pleased at the news… but perhaps you are disappointed that you have less to complain about now?
There is an irony in someone with your user name calling others ‘irrational KC haters’. Personally, I liked Laurel’s death on the show, I felt it added weight, but here is the thing… I don’t have any opinion about the actors or actresses and I’m not in to the comics, so I guess I’m just enjoying the show for what it is. I’m also interested to see what they do with her now that she is back across all shows.
Or perhaps we can do both? You know like how Olicity fans got everything they wanted but instead of being happy and chill they still whine about, make up horrible lies about and attack KC/LL at every turn.
This is exactly why they’ve been even more hateful the past few months. When the ratings started to drop, people started to turn on the writers, and more people started to blame the direction of Felicity, the KC haters knew they were going to have to fix it by bringing her back.
Oh my, such delusion. You are going to be so disappointed when she only has one appearance on each show.
So what planet do you live on where you pay an actress for 22 episodes if you only want her in 3 episodes?
I don’t see how she’s going to be able to be on 22 episode for all three shows. And seeing as she’s signed for all three, that’s exactly what you’re saying she’ll do.
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The plan is for her to appear on all the shows however often they need her. Whether it be flashbacks on Arrow, or Black Siren on Flash, or time travel on Legends. That’s what they mean by series regular. Which sounds a lot better for Katie’s overall mental health.
@briggsllanyublog…an actor would not sign a series regular contract for a few episodes. The scheduling logistics and story lines might not permit 22 episodes but she’s going to be in far more than a handful.
@Normandy…we don’t know if the contract specified 22 episodes. A studio wouldn’t agree to pay an actor for 22 if she was only going to be in 15 episodes. Series regulars don’t have to be in the equivalent of a full season. She could end up being in 10-15 episodes and still be considered a series regular.
I said that they’ll use her however often they need her. How does that equal a handful of episodes? Try not to put words in my mouth.
Or perhaps it might be better if you think about the words you use. You criticized the commentor for suggesting that she would work the equivalent of a full season even though it is highly likely that a full-time cast member will be utilized in many episodes, much closer to 22 than not.
Maybe you should be careful about reading meaning where there is none. All I was trying to say is that ‘series regular’ does not translate to being in nearly every episode, which is what she was saying. John Barrowman was made a series regular in S3, and he was only in 15 out of 23 episodes.
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We may see her often, but I don’t think it’ll be in most of the episodes. That’s all I was saying.
“Series regular” is an actor pay category, which does mean they are paid for a full season whether they appear in every episode or not, but more than anything it binds an actor to that show (or in this case group of shows) exclusively. When a story says an actor is “unavailable” to reprise a role on a series, it means they have signed a series regular contract on a different show, not that their day planner is full.
Union rules are very specific, but in reality they are more flexible than people think if all parties agree. What I expect they’ve done in these cases is agree to a “full season” salary that applies to 3 shows (or 4 if they’re including Supergirl), rather than the usual per-episode pay, binding them to exclusive availability for Berlanti’s shows whenever he wants to use them (which is unlikely to be every episode of every show, but probably much more often than the typical “recurring”). They’ll probably pop up for multi-episode arcs on each of the shows, adding up to the equivalent of a normal series regular on one show – which isn’t always “every episode” anyway.
I think series regular in this case is just a cross-series regular, but it wont be every episode of every series. In fact it’s highly likely that she’ll play the Black Siren who is a member of the Legion of Doom just to give Sara Lance some emotional crap to deal with.
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But no, I don’t think she’ll appear every episode of Flash and Arrow, maybe a lot of the LoT episodes though. She’ll be on Arrow for flashbacks, possibly alive in Flashpoint, and Black Siren outside of Flashpoint. She’ll be on Vixen season 2 as Black Canary for an episode or 2.
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I’m kinda sorta disappointed it doesn’t include Supergirl, there were or are rumours about Batwoman and Oracle showing up, they could totally do a Birds of Prey! Throw in Katana too :P
Comparing fiction to an actual real life disease that kills millions of people every year. You could stop watching the show and not check up on news but you won’t because you have be first at every arrow tweet, comment section or Amell’s Facebook to high five your dude bros
You could stop watching the show and not check up on news but you won’t because you have be first at every arrow tweet, comment section or Amell’s Facebook to high five your dude bros
LMAO
Oh,you know me so well..NOT.
Seeing as people with your opinion show up in every Arrow-related article these days, it’s actually pretty accurate.
Really glad to have Katie Cassidy back in the verse. Doesn’t sound like they’re resurrecting Laurel, and that’s a good thing.
They probably are. Who else would she play besides Laurel?
No they won’t. She’s dead in the present day. She’ll just be used for flashbacks, Black Siren, and time travel. That’s it. People are getting their hopes up a bit.
Dude, Flashpoint.
Dude, her death is providing the impetus for the show going forward. What’s the point of her dying if they bring her back?
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Besides, with the other three avenues available to them, they don’t really need to bring her back to continue utilizing Katie Cassidy.
They’ve already pretty much started she’ll be back around, either as the Earth-2 version or an another version of the character. With flashpoint, she might even be the Earth-1 (prime?) version. Whatever came before is likely to be washed away.. Barry rewrites history.
I know Arrow isn’t renowned for its writing, but the writers killed Sara in S3 and brought her back in S4, to do the exact same thing with Laurel one season later would show a lack of faith in their own storytelling.
A lot is getting restructured with Flashpoint. Why not a “Laurel” that never got involved with Oliver? There’s allusions to Barry and Iris not having met so….
Present day Laurel stays dead on Arrow, Marc G said this, Amell said this, Mericle said this. This deal is a little olive branch to the comic boys and girls. Quoting MG, Cassidy is appearing in either Arrow flashbacks / Flash’s Black Siren / Legends time travel. Present day Laurel is deader than dead – they even gave her a damn statue :D
She’s still Black Siren over in Flash, and she could always be the Black Canary of the JSA or the Dinah Lance of Supergirl’s Earth.
TV Guide, in their Comic-Con Special issue, asked MG about whether Laurel could show up as Black Canary on Legends of Tomorrow, and he said “no, that conflicts with other plans we have.”
That’s awesome I’m so happy for her!
My first reaction is yay Katie for this deal. But then it was followed by, “God, does this mean I have to start watching Arrow again?” I hope not. That door is closed. I hope Katie only reprised her role as the Black Siren which meant appearing only on Flash and LoT then I’ll be happy. Also this sucks a bit if this was already planned by killing off Laurel Lance. Why not just announce the news back then so it won’t be receiving those many backlash and the #NoLaurelNoArrow movement.
They waited precisely because of that kind of reaction. Captain Cold fans have always been very positive about him, they got word immediately. Merlyn fans waited patiently, they got theirs. Comic/Laurel fans whined and complained, they had to wait ’til SDCC.
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BTW, this more than proves Laurel was never actually fridged, so…
Except she was cuz she’s only appearing in the past on Legends and flashbacks on Arrow and therefore has no opportunity to grow as a character.
From what I understand, fridging only refers to the character being killed off. Since she’s going to continue to appear, she has not actually been removed from the universe.
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As for growth, there are rumors swirling that they may yet reform the evil Black Siren. So you might get that, too.
Exactly what kind of growth are you looking for, here? Because she seemed very comfortable in her own skin and confident in the 4th season, so other than maybe more training (which would necessitate taking her out of Oliver’s world for a while), I’m not sure what you’re asking for.
Awesome!!! Hopefully this means it gets her character away from the weird drama.
‘All’, but not Supergirl. So…almost all.
Omg we can only hope she’ll end up on Supergirl
I still think they would benefit from giving Tom Cavanagh one of these deals.
Way to ruin all my DC shows
Just what I was thinking.
A+++
Waaaaah waaaah. Do you baby’s want your bottle?
i only watch Arrow but I wish she wasn’t on that anymore either. She just irks me.
Why pick on katie, is it personal discrimination or just plain jealousy because there is nothing wrong with her acting ability if she is given the right script her role as black siren PROVED THAT!!!.
Emily is more than capable to take on great material as well, which the babymomma arc was not. I think we can all agree on that much.
I’m probably not gonna bother this year. They’re asking for four hours a week now to watch increasingly nonsensical and rather pedestrian tween drama. Back in S1 and S2 Arrow I was literally counting the days until the next episode, now I feel completely unenthused.
Amen!
Good. Now you know how her fans felt.
Good news Katie will be back in DC TV universe! Guess Flashpoint did affect Arrow somehow.
Good for her. I thought it was ridiculous that they killed her off on “Arrow.” I’m not thrilled about the Legion of Doom news, though. I was hoping we’d see Wentworth Miller as Citizen Cold instead, and I find Malcolm Merlyn and Damien Darhk very annoying. I actually couldn’t wait for their characters to be killed off.
100% THIS^^^^
So our three DCCWverse main cast members among all 4 shows are two actors who primarily play characters that have died and an actor playing a character that really should have died at least a season ago. Yep, that’s comic books right there.
Enjoy, Peter!
So if she’s across all 4 shows just like Malcolm, Damian, Snart, and Reverse-Flash, does this mean it’s actually Earth-2 Black Siren with the Legion of Doom, and not Earth-1’s Laurel? Unless Sara goes back in time and grabs her.
I am guessing she will be Black Siren and probably also be part of the Legion of Doom, though unannounced as yet. Perhaps all the people with cross series regular jobs are in the Legion of Doom.
Awesome news! I’m sure the creative team over at the other shows will treat her and the comic book lore she’s to portray loads better. I’m very happy for KC. Flash, Supergirl and LoT are going to be lit come Fall 2016.
Good for her!
Happy to hear this, might go back to watching Arrow again.
WTF no.
“she is now a series regular across multiple CW superhero shows — namely The Flash, Legends of Tomorrow and her original stomping grounds, Arrow”
And Supergirl! Don’t forget Supergirl!!
Any idea of how many episodes she’s been signed on for? Insanely curious!
This comes as no surprise. They had to bring Laurel back. There was no choice they simply had to bring her back. Black Canary is, next to wonder woman, the highest profile female superhero in the DC universe who is not derivative of a Mail hero (example: Supergirl, Hawkgirl, batgirl, Zatanna … )
Killing her off was quite disrespectful to female fans and fans of the DC universe in general
Unfortunately according to what I’ve read she’s not going to be coming back as Black Canary really. Laurel in flashbacks and time travel, and Black Siren in any present day stuff.
Mail- something you receive from the post office.
Male- a guy
Also try slicing it anyway you want unless your a comic book fan most people had never heard of the black canary and there was nothing disrespectful to females because of it. Quit overreaching.
The only one I’m looking forward to is Wentworkth Miller because he hasn’t been overused yet.. As much as I like John Barrowman, Malcolm Merlyn has been over-used in the Flarrow universe and Katie Cassidy needs to be on a different kind of show.
I agree on all points. I’ve always said Laurel would be great on The Flash… But who knows
I too have thought Laurel would have been better on The Flash. The first episode she did over there she just fit in in a way that never gelled on Arrow. Plus Katie seemed to be having more fun there
I’m not sure I’m even looking forward to Wentworth Miller anymore, now that it looks like Snart’s going to be a bad guy again. I only liked the character as the reluctant anti-hero he was on LoT. As an out-and-out villain, not so much. Malcolm should have been killed off a season or so ago, and while from other interviews I’ve read it seems like present-day Laurel is not returning, I still would prefer to see as little of any version of Laurel as possible. It was bad enough dealing with her on Arrow – now I have to deal with it on the other shows as well? That’s frankly terrible news. Here’s hoping her appearances are as minimal as possible. :(
YAAAAY OMG OMG I LOVE KATIE AND I MISS LAUREL SO MUCH
Great, as long as Laurel isn’t coming back. Love Katie, can’t stand the mess of her character Arrow made.
Most hilarious news I’ve heard all day! They really just can’t help themselves with resurrecting characters.
So, death on a DCEU show is actually an upgrade?
Wait? Is she not dead? Is Laurel not actually dead or coming back in some way??? I stopped watching Arrow because of her death, but heck yeah I’ll come back if she’s back