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The DC live-action universe has hit it stride over the past few years, with movies like Shazam! and Aquaman resonating with audiences and making money at the box office. While Joker was set outside of the shared universe, Cathy Yan's Birds of Prey will continue the main storyline of the DCEU. Margot Robbie's Harley Quinn is back, and the blockbuster will introduce a slew of new characters to populate Gotham City. This includes Ewan McGregor's Black Mask, and the actor recently had a colorful description of his upcoming villain.
Ewan McGregor's casting as Black Mask has been a major selling point of Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn). He was rumored for months before signing on, and the trailer teased a wild performance for the Batman rogue. Now the 48 year-old actor has described Roman Sionis, saying:
[He is] an absolute narcissist, spoiled in his upbringing to the point of having no contact with what life or people are about, who has a skin this thin and wants nothing more than to be the center of attention.
I mean, sign me up. It looks like Ewan McGregor is going to be able to go full tilt to bring Black Mask to life in live-action. And he's clearly got some great backstory and material to work with.
Ewan McGregor's comments to Men's Journal peels back the curtain to his mysterious Birds of Prey role. Anticipation for Cathy Yan's upcoming DC debut has been slowly building, as footage is methodically released by Warner Bros. ahead of its premiere. Camera test footage teased what the movie would be like, and the first trailer was a zany adventure through Harley's fracture psyche.
The upcoming blockbuster has been getting a ton of buzz for prominently featuring women, both in front and behind the camera. The movie will introduce a slew of Gotham femme fatales to the DCEU, with Margot Robbie especially passionate about giving Harley Quinn friends. Director Cathy Yan is the one in charge of Birds of Prey, and which was written by Christina Hodson and produced by Robbie.
It should be interesting to see how closely Birds of Prey follows the comics, and how much is a wholly original story. You can read up on titular team's adventures on the page here.
Ewan McGregor's Black Mask will be one of the few male cast members, alongside Chris Messina's Victor Zsasz. They're both iconic villains from Batman comics, and it should be interesting to see how they clash with the likes of Huntress, Black Canary, and Renee Montoya. McGregor previously praised the script for Birds of Prey, so it's clear that he enjoyed working on the project, and portraying Roman Sionis. In all his narcissistic glory.
Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) will arrive in theaters to expand the DCEU on February 7th, 2020. In the meantime, check out our 2019 release list to plan your next trip to the movies.
