Birds of Prey (or to give it its full title, Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn)) sounds like it’s going to be weird. Real weird. At least, that’s if these plot details prove to be true.
A report over on Reddit, which has already been backed up by a few people who’ve seen the film, claims that Harley Quinn, Black Canary, Huntress and Renee Montoya find themselves thrown together because Black Mask is hellbent on capturing the young Cassandra Cain.
Why does he want to get his hands on her so bad? Well, she’s somehow swallowed a diamond that belongs to him, and the diamond secretly contains pictures of his dick. The villain needs to get his hands on them before they go public and ruin his reputation. In addition, the leaker explains that Black Mask will be a narcissistic gay man who spends much of the movie flirting with horribly scarred serial killer Victor Zsasz.
It’s also said that Cain has essentially nothing in common with her comic book counterpart, being described as “a chubby Asian kid who talks A LOT.” Not to mention that none of the characters will be seen in comic-accurate costumes, with Black Mask’s skull face reduced to the half-mask we’ve seen in the leaked set pics.
The tone of the movie also sounds wildly different from what came before. Harley narrates the film in the style of Deadpool, including some breaking of the fourth wall, and it’s also said to be “almost like slapstick” and “like a Tarantino movie on acid.” All of which may explain why Warner Bros. are reported to be nervous about the production.
Finally, Grace Randolph has shared over on YouTube that the film’s portrayal of Black Mask may be “potentially damaging LGBT representation” and that it shows a “potential lack of dignity,” threatening to take the entire franchise back to its “darker days.” Ouch!
Of course, with Birds of Prey not set to hit theaters until February 7th, 2020, there’s still lots of time to fix things up, but let’s just hope that this doesn’t turn into another disaster for Warner Bros. Especially since they’ve finally gotten their cinematic universe back on track.