The DC live-action universe has been on a roll lately, with Shazam! and Aquaman performing well in theaters. Warner Bros. is currently riding on the success of Todd Phillips' Joker, although that movie isn't connected to the shared universe. The DCEU will kick back up with Cathy Yan's upcoming blockbuster Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn), starring a strong cast of femme fatales. Chief among them is Mary Elizabeth Winstead's Huntress, and the actress recently teased what Yan brought to the highly anticipated blockbuster
On top of a female-led cast, Birds of Prey has been getting some serious hype for also having women behind the camera. Cathy Yan is the filmmaker behind the upcoming blockbuster, and its first trailer recently broke the internet and teased something unique for the genre. Mary Elizabeth Winstead recently spoke to Yan's ability to take creative risks, while speaking about how exciting it was to be on a set full of women. As she put it:
It was just so easy. There was no ego in any of it. Not to say that ego is a male-only trait, it’s certainly not. But in this case it was just so easy. Everybody just wanted to be there, wanted to be with each other, wanted to be playing these roles. And it was exciting. Everything about it was so cool, like the costumes. And Cathy really being at the helm of it, and really making these decisions that she thought was cool. As opposed to going ‘Oh we have to appeal to this person, have to appeal to that person.’ She had the reigns. And Margot was super involved in a collaborative way.
Well, this is certainly exciting. While studio interference has been known to sink a DCEU movie or two, Cathy Yan looks like she got full control of the ship for Birds of Prey. And the upcoming movie seems like it could just about anywhere.
Mary Elizabeth Winstead's comments to Collider are sure to excite both casual moviegoers and hardcore DC fans out there. The superhero movies have become the most profitable and popular genre in film over the past few years, with certain critics fearing it may become too oversaturated. Hero fatigue is what filmmakers are trying to avoid, and it seems like Cathy Yan did just that with Birds of Prey.
Related: Birds Of Prey’s Mary Elizabeth Winstead Says It’s ‘Unlike Anything’ In The Superhero Genre
The first full trailer for Birds of Prey finally arrived last week, and it was a bonkers one. Margot Robbie was a producer in addition to starring as Harley Quinn, and the first footage hints that the story will be very much told through Harley's POV. Her voice over was used all throughout the trailer, likely serving as an unreliable narrator. There's also a Marilyn Monroe-inspired musical number, and some very unique dialogue. Clearly Yan was happy to take risks, and they hopefully pay off in a big way once the movie finally hits theaters in a few months.
In the meantime, Joker will be in theaters to satiate the hardcore DC fans out there. While Todd Phillips' movie is set outside of the DCEU (Jared Leto is still technically that Joker), the psychological origin story is breaking box office records. Let's see if Birds of Prey manages to accrue the same hype.
Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) will hit theaters on February 7th, 2020. In the meantime, check out our 2019 release list to plan your next trip to the movies.
