‘Arrow’ Season 5 Spoilers: Who Is New Black Canary Juliana Harkavy?

“Arrow” Season 5 has a new Black Canary. Another female superhero from the DC Comics universe has been chosen to take up the mantle previously worn by sisters Sara (Caity Lotz) and Laurel Lance (Katie Cassidy). And if the sonic cry is any indication, she just might be the real deal. Meet Dinah Drake (Juliana Harkavy), a female vigilante crusading for vengeance under the alias Tina Boland.

Dinah Drake will doubtless be familiar to fans of DC Comics, but for the uninitiated, here is a brief guide about the new “Arrow” Season 5 cast member:

1. The Name

The Dinah name confusion is not unique to just the Arrowverse. In the comics, the most common names associated with Black Canary are Dinah Drake and Dinah Lance. The former was the first Black Canary, operating from 1960s to the 1980s and changing her name to Dinah Lance after she got married. Her daughter, Dinah Laurel Lance, is the current Black Canary in the comics. The New 52 tried to reconcile the two names by establishing Black Canary as Dinah Laurel Drake-Lance. “Arrow” has taken liberties with this name, giving us three characters with some variation of it: Dinah Lance (nee Drake), her daughter Dinah Laurel Lance, and now newcomer Dinah Drake.

2. The Canary Cry

“Arrow” loves its red herrings. But it seems that the show is taking greater care with handling this version of Black Canary than it did with the Lance sisters by modeling Harkavy’s Dinah more closely to her comic-book counterpart. In the comics, Black Canary is a metahuman with a sonic scream that can incapacitate her enemies and harm organic and inorganic objects. In “Arrow,” Laurel had a variation of this ability using a device created by Cisco Ramon (of “The Flash”). Harkavy’s Dinah goes a step further – “Second Chances” revealed her to be a metahuman with a sonic cry.

3. The Fighting Skills

Black Canary is one of the best close combat fighters and martial artists in the DC comic-verse. Canonically, she has gone toe-to-toe with Huntress, Wildcat, Lady Shiva, and even a depowered Wonder Woman. Both Sara and Laurel hinted at this fighting prowess in “Arrow.” Sara was trained by the League of Assassins, while Laurel was later trained by Nyssa al Ghul. Going by her occasional vigilantism and background as a cop, Harkavy’s Dinah also shows some of this prowess.

4. The Romance

Unfortunately unavoidable. In any universe, comic or television, Green Arrow and Black Canary are inextricably linked – as both crime-fighting partners and as lovers. We’ve seen this in “Arrow” with both Sara and Laurel, though neither relationship lasted (to put it gently). Despite Oliver’s intense chemistry with Felicity, will the show’s producers choose to remain true to the comic-book canon and pair him up with the new Dinah Drake?

5. The Birds of Prey?

Okay, this is more wishful thinking than anything, but – could the introduction of a third Black Canary possibly open the doors to an appearance from Barbara Gordon? And possibly even a team-up for the Birds of Prey? In the comics, Black Canary is known for leading an all-female team of heroes (and sometimes villains: Poison Ivy) known as the Birds of Prey. Oracle and Huntress are main members. We’ve already had appearances in “Arrow” from Huntress and (three versions of) Black Canary. There was even an episode titled “Birds of Prey!” A team-up is long overdue.