They’re all here. But as we can guess from the title and all the posters, the Birds of Prey will form because of Harley Quinn bringing these women together. Offscreen, that’s true as well, since Margot Robbie signed on as producer and got this project off the ground.
At least we get a good look at these heroes — or anti-heroes — as they fight for fantabulous emancipation. There’s still a lot of mystery. It’s safe to assume that Mary Elizabeth Winstead’s Huntress is Helena Bertinelli, the crime family-connected avenger. Jurnee Smollett-Bell joins as Black Canary, but as the Worlds of DC doesn’t have a Green Arrow, it’s unclear if she’s connected to a larger continuity or just an excellently strong new vision of Dinah Lance. We also have a question about Rosie Perez as Renee Montoya — specifically, will she just be a top Gotham police detective, or will she also be The Question? Ella Jay Basco is Cassandra Cain. Yesterday, I called the character “Orphan,” but she’s also been Batgirl, but maybe for this film she’s just Cassandra. Rounding out the villains, we have Chris Messina as Victor Zsasz, and Ewan McGregor as Roman Sionis/Black Mask. I still want to see McGregor actually don a Black Mask, but like everything in these modern takes, the character is logically distanced from that original comic book conception.
I still want to see the Black Mask. Cathy Yan directs Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) to hit theaters (without the Joker) on February 7, 2020.
