The DC Extended Universe has had a fascinating tenure in theaters, full of peaks and valleys. But over the past few years, Warner Bros. has seemingly found its stride and released a slew of critically acclaimed blockbusters. The most recent of which was Cathy Yan's Birds of Prey (And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn), which introduced Margot Robbie's title character to a group of female friends. Chief among them was Mary Elizabeth Winstead's Huntress, and new concept art recently revealed a more comic book accurate version of her costume.
Birds of Prey had a unique visual language, full of bright colors and top notch narration by Harley Quinn herself. The characters were given modern costumes, which were a bit more realistic than the costumes from the source material. This includes Huntress' appearance, although unused concept art revealed a much more comic book accurate appearance. Check it out below.
FOMO alert. This version of Huntress is a bit more dramatic than the one we saw in Birds of Prey, especially where the character's mask is concerned. It's definitely a great visual, although it might have prevented some of Mary Elizabeth Winstead's facial expressions from coming across on screen. Instead she was given a helmet, which she removed to allow for her to fully emote throughout the character's badass action and socially awkward personality.
This new Bids of Prey concept art comes to us from the social media of artist Greg Hopwood. Hopwood has worked as a concept artist on high-profile projects like BoP and Star Trek: Picard, helping the filmmakers find a visual language and design for its characters. While the above art of Huntress was obviously unused, it helped to create the world of Cathy Yan's DC blockbuster, which definitely had some striking costumes and cinematography.
In the concept art, we see Huntress in a more dramatic costume, although it's still a mixture of black and very dark violet colors. This costume most notably includes Huntress' signature mask, which she's known for rocking in DC comics as a member of the Bat-family. The head piece was hinted at with the character's helmet, but she spent the majority of Birds of Prey's 109-minute runtime noticeably mask-less.
Huntress did get an upgraded costume in the final moments of Birds of Prey, where Harley Quinn is revealing the fate of the team. Huntress, Black Canary, and Renee Montoya formed the titular group of crimefighters, rocking new duds in the process.
This brief scene gave both Black Canary and Huntress more comic book accurate costumes, debuting as bonafide superheroes in the process. I'm personally eager to see the trio return to the big screen in another installment in the DCEU, although whether or not that happens remains to be seen. It'll be interesting to see how Bird of Prey's early home release affects these odds.
Mary Elizabeth Winstead was definitely a scene stealer in Birds of Prey, as her character was seriously lacking in social intelligence due to her isolation and training as an assassin. She added a unique dynamic to the group, and ultimately found herself in the process.
The next installment in the DCEU is Wonder Woman 1984 on August 14th. In the meantime, check out our 2020 release list to plan your next trip to the movies.
