Now that Wonder Woman 1984 has been pushed back to summer 2020, the next DC Extended Universe movie to follow after Shazam! will be Birds of Prey. This superhero flick will see Margot Robbie finally reprising Harley Quinn, who debuted in 2016's Suicide Squad. Robbie is also producing Birds of Prey, and today the actress has seemingly revealed that the movie actually has a much longer title: Birds of Prey (And The Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn).
Now if you're only looking at Margot Robbie's Instagram post, you'd probably think the (And The Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) part is fake. After all, it'd be just like Harley to doodle on a script page and make the movie more about her. It also works as a funny riff of Michael Keaton's 2014 movie, Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance). However, The Hollywood Reporter says it's confirmed that this is officially Birds of Prey's full title, making it quite the mouthful.
I think it's safe to say that most of us will probably still refer to this movie just as Birds of Prey, but still, to call it Birds of Prey (And The Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) certainly helps it stand out from the crowd. Being the DCEU's first R-rated movie (theatrically speaking) was already going helping on that front, but perhaps this long title implies that Birds of Prey will be a more self-referential tale.
As far as 'Emancipation' goes, I'm guessing this refers to Harley Quinn finally separating herself from her 'puddin', The Joker. Just like Batman: The Animated Series and comic book predecessors, the DCEU's Harley, real name Harleen Quinzel, fell in love with Joker while she was working at Arkham Asylum. She subsequently became his colorful accomplice, and at the end of Suicide Squad, following her first adventure with Task Force X, the Clown Prince of Crime broke her out of Belle Reve.
Clearly these two were still on good terms with one another, but one of the defining aspects of Joker and Harley Quinn's relationship is that the former is incredibly abusive to the latter. For years, Harley would just take this mistreatment, but over the last decade, particularly in the post-New 52 comic book continuity, she's cut ties from him and set out on her own path, becoming more of an anti-hero in the process. Presumably this is what's in store for Harley in Birds of Prey, as there's no indication that Joker will appear.
Margot Robbie's Harley Quinn will be joined in Birds of Prey (And The Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) by Mary Elizabeth Winstead's Huntress, Jurnee Smollett-Bell's Black Canary, Rosie Perez's Detective Renee Montoya and Ella Jay Basco's Cassandra Cain. While no official plot details have been revealed yet, the story will reportedly see Huntress, Black Canary and Renne protecting Cassandra after she comes across a diamond belonging to crime boss Roman Sionis, a.k.a. Black Mask, played by Ewan McGregor. According to Winstead, Harley is the one who puts this "girl gang" together.
Birds of Prey (And The Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) opens in theaters on February 7, 2020, so stay tuned to CinemaBlend for continuing coverage. In the meantime, look through our DC movies guide to learn what else the DCEU has in development.
