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Vigilante Lawyers is the het ship between Laurel Lance and Matt Murdock from the Arrow and Daredevil fandoms.
Canon[]
Vigilante Lawyers is a crossover ship. Laurel Lance (also known as the Black Canary) is from the television show Arrow, and Matt Murdock is from Daredevil. These television shows are from the two rival comic book universes: DC Comics and Marvel, respectively. As a result, neither character has met or interacted, due to existing in entirely separate canons.
However, their comic counterparts do live in the same omniverse. Additionally, in the Marvel multiverse, Earth-7642 is a universe where Marvel and DC characters coexist with one another. So in this universe, it would be hypothetically possible for both Laurel and Matt to exist and meet.
The two characters share some similarities. Both Laurel and Matt are lawyers. They also lead double lives as vigilantes, with Laurel becoming the Black Canary and Matt being the masked hero Daredevil. In these roles, they fight crime outside the law. They each operate primarily within their own cities – Star City for Laurel and Hell's Kitchen for Matt. Since they are both lawyers, they sometimes struggle to reconcile their actions as vigilantes with their roles in the court, creating a moral and legal dilemma that both characters grapple with throughout their respective series.
Both characters also rejected offers at established law firms because they wanted to save the world and fight crime instead.
Additionally, both characters have faced personal tragedies that became important in their journeys to become vigilantes. Laurel lost her sister Sara, while Matt lost his father and his sight in a childhood accident. These experiences motivated them to take up their respective mantles.
Fanon[]
History[]
- Lawyers by day, Vigilantes by night.
This is a rare ship. It gained some popularity in 2015 on Tumblr, thanks to a few users who collectively dubbed the ship "Vigilante Lawyers".[1] It is also frequently referred to by its portmanteau "Murlance", though the former name has more posts associated with it. Some suggestions for the ship name also included Black Devil and Red Canary, but both of these were already "taken" by other ships.
Appeal[]
The ship mainly refers to the television counterparts of these characters, namely from Arrow and Daredevil, for Laurel and Matt respectively. Both television shows aired around the same time, with Season 1 of Daredevil airing in 2015, the same year as Seasons 3 and 4 of Arrow.
The appeal for the ship likely due to the shared similarities between the characters. Both are lawyers and vigilantes. If they existed in the same universe, it is easy to imagine the characters meeting, working together, and having shared struggles. Fans view them as 'lawyers by day, vigilantes by night'. By day, as lawyers, Laurel and Matt could work together on cases and engage in witty legal banter. Then at night, as vigilantes, they could fight crime side by side. This duality is likely the main appeal. The pairing has gained some backlash (specifically on Reddit) for being unconventional, and there is some dislike for crossover ships since the characters have never met and exist in entirely separate franchises.
There is also some comparison to JenMatt, the ship between Jennifer Walters and Matt Murdock, as it is also a pairing between two vigilantes and lawyers.
Fanwork[]
There are a small number of fanfictions for the pairing, with just over 10 on AO3. It is common for writers to depict Laurel and Matt as part of the same universe. Foggy is often depicted as a proud supporter of the ship. There are also some fan videos featuring the pairing, as well as a number of fanmixes. There is a dedicated Tumblr for the pairing, named after the ship name.
Videos[]
Fandom[]
- FAN FICTION
- Laurel/Matt tag on AO3
- WIKIS
- Laurel Lance/Matt Murdock on Fanlore
- TUMBLR
- tumblr@vigilantesatlaw
- Vigilante Lawyers tag on Tumblr
- Murlance tag on Tumblr
References[]
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| Arrow Ships • Arrow Characters | ||
| SHIPS | het | Barricity • Canarrow • Dyla • Lauriver • Merlance • Olicity • Raylicity • Smoakvibe • Superarrow • Theallen • Throy • Vigilante Lawyers • Wild Canary |
| slash | Arrowave • Atomarrow • Constanqueen • Olivarry • Quiggle • RoyOllie • RoyWally • Sladiver • Toliver | |
| femslash | Caitlicity • CanaryStar • Dinahlicity • DinahSiren • Jaurel • Lauryssa • Nyssara • Smoaking Canary • Nyssara • Thyssa | |
| poly | Superflarrow | |
| family | Al Ghul Sisters | |
| CHARACTERS | male | Roy Harper • Connor Hawke • Oliver Queen • Ray Palmer |
| female | Nyssa al Ghul • Talia al Ghul • Helena Bertinelli • Laurel Lance • Sara Lance • Felicity Smoak | |
