Arrow is set to return after an eventful mid-season finale, with Starling City down their vigilante savior Oliver Queen - for now. There to step into that void will be Laurel Lance (Katie Cassidy) who will be making her debut as Black Canary.

Katie Cassidy as Black Canary in Arrow.

“ She's still learning, still training. She still has a long way to go.

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“ She will find out who actually killed her sister. But when she does find out, I think the audience will be really surprised. Her reaction isn't what you'd expect.

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“ It's Arsenal who is the first to support her.

IGN had the opportunity to sit down with Cassidy to talk about what we can expect from her take on the iconic character, as well as the tensions that will arise as she comes into contact with Malcolm Merlyn, Thea, Arsenal, and Team Arrow.The suit!Yes. Shockingly, yes. [Laughs]Honestly, it's everything I've ever wanted. I waited a long time to get to this place. I'm just so grateful and so happy. The writers have been so good to me. It was a long time coming, but I think it was well worth the wait. As with every superhero, you have to earn it. You can't have a character turn into a superhero over night. So Laurel had to hit her rock bottom before she came out on top. Yes, on January 21st you'll see me in the costume, but that doesn't necessarily mean I'm good -- yet. She's still learning, still training. She still has a long way to go. But she's driven, and she's fearless. Seeking vengeance for her sister is what's moving her.I've always said this: I think if anyone could handle it, it's Laurel. I think that she is a believer. I think that she's a strong woman, and, yeah, she has had a lot of loss. So she loses these people, but I feel like that makes her that much stronger in the end. And she lives for that. After they pass, they're still very much a part of her.In Season 3, you'll see Laurel go from avenging her sister to honoring her sister to then becoming her. But I think, A) The suit is not the same, but it's definitely similar; the jacket is almost identical, and B) She's doing this for her sister. Part of what she brings to it is heart. She's fearless, she's driven, she's doing this because, deep inside, it's what she believes in and what she wants. I'm not necessarily sure that Sara -- you'd have to ask Caity Lotz, because it's a character choice -- but that's where she was coming from. She sort of fell into it mistakenly, because of the crash in Season 1. Being on the island, she had no choice. Laurel has a choice, and she's choosing this because she's that strong and realistic, and has heart about it.I think that Malcolm's always been a target. She will find out who actually killed her sister. She doesn't know at this point. But when she does find out, I think the audience will be really surprised. Her reaction isn't what you'd expect.That's a really good question for our producers and writers. [Laughs] Having said that, I believe so, but not necessarily in the same form.I think at the beginning, when she goes out onto the streets, Arsenal and the team don't agree with it. So she's just on her own. But eventually she proves herself, and they see that she's following her heart and doing it for her sister; she's avenging her sister's death and honoring her sister, and will stop at nothing. They recognize that. It's Arsenal who is the first to support her and says, "You know what? She's smart. Even though she's not trained, she's good for not being trained, huh?" She's training, but she's not a professional. So they do end up coming around to it.Yeah. It was pretty intense. It's all about what you put into it. Me as an actor, I want to be as authentic as possible. I didn't want to just be like, "Okay, they're making me train with a trainer three or four times a week." I was like, "I'm going to bust my ass!" I actually ended up with three different trainers. I had a boxing trainer -- a fighting trainer -- then a weightlifting trainer, and then I did Callanetics. So it was all different types, but I didn't want my stunt double doing all the fight scenes -- like that boxing scene. I wanted that to be me. So I was actually training six days a week, three hours a day for a couple of months. If I had a longer period of time -- I mean, I was so into it. I was watching Million Dollar Baby at night, like, "I want to be like Hilary Swank!" [Laughs] But I wanted it to be real. I feel like that's what Laurel would be doing. It was definitely hard, especially once we started shooting, but I knew at some point -- you put all this time and effort into it -- I want to say probably around November, I could back off a little bit, because once you have that muscle you don't have to work so hard. Once it's there it's like, "Okay. I can chill a little bit." So it's definitely not as intense right now, but I'm definitely still training. I used to be a competitive gymnast, so I try to incorporate as much as I can. It's been amazing.[Coyly] I don't know...[Laughs]

Watch the mid-season return of Arrow "Left Behind" on Wednesday, January 21st, at 8:00pm ET/PT on The CW.Roth Cornet is an Entertainment Editor for IGN. You can follow her on Twitter at @RothCornet and IGN at Roth-IGN