DC's live-action universe is a fascinating place, as the studio constantly surprises the fandom with which of its myriad announced projects actually make their way to theaters. Aquaman, Shazam!, Wonder Woman 1984, and Joker are the next four projects that will be released, but there's another blockbuster being developed over at DC: Birds of Prey.
Cathy Yan's Birds of Prey movie is really shaping up, with the cast and crew being assembled as development continues moving forward. This includes Mary Elizabeth Winstead, who is playing Bat-family vigilante Huntress in the upcoming ensemble project. And she does seem to think the project is at least partly a spinoff of David Ayer's Suicide Squad. As she tells it,
It's sort of a spinoff of Suicide Squad. It kind of follows Harley Quinn, which is Margot Robbie's character from those films, and this sort of girl gang that she puts together. I play Huntress, and we've got Black Canary, played by Jurnee Smollett-Bell, and Rosie Perez and Ewan McGregor. It's a really fun, fun cast. We haven't started shooting yet, but we start shooting in January, and I can't wait.
Well, this is interesting. While Harley Quinn has always been attached to Birds of Prey, it's been unclear how the fan favorite villain would factor into the story, and interact with the titular team of heroes. But with Winstead classifying it as a spinoff of sorts, it appears the new female-led movie will indeed connect to Harley's DCEU debut.
Mary Elizabeth Winstead's comments to Bionic Buzz are sure to pique the interest of DC fans out there, who are eager to see more of Gotham City's characters translated into live-action. When the DC Universe was still in its infancy, it seemed that the studio was trying to do more ensemble projects, in hopes of doing enough world building to compete with the MCU.
Unfortunately, projects like Justice League and Suicide Squad were critical nightmares, and didn't translate to the success Warner Bros. was no doubt hoping for. But there were some standout moments, with the latter relying heavily on Margot Robbie's Harley Quinn to carry the movie.
It should be fascinating to see how Harley Quinn ultimately moves the story of Birds of Prey forward, and ends up teaming up with heroes like Huntress and Black Canary. When we last saw Harley, she had found a new family in her Suicide Squad members. But during the film's final moments, Jared Leto's Joker arrived to break his lover out of prison.
Of course, Suicide Squad also showed the darkness in Harley relationship with Joker, despite their mutual devotion toward each other. Perhaps she and Mr. J will have a breakup, eventually landing her alongside some heroes. _Birds of Pre_y will also feature Ewan McGregor as the villainous Black Mask, so it also seems logical that Harley might join the story through her connection with the underworld. Only time will tell.
Birds of Prey is currently set to arrive in theaters on February 7th, 2020. In the meantime, check out our 2019 release list to plan your trips to the movies in the New Year.
