DC fans went crazy yesterday when it was announced that Ewan McGregor is going to play Black Mask in the upcoming Birds of Prey. Already a geek favorite thanks to his iconic role as Obi-Wan in the Star Wars prequels, comic book lovers were excited to see him picking up a part in a superhero movie, especially as a villain who everyone’s been wanting to see on the big screen for a while.
On the page, Black Mask AKA Roman Sionis has a distinct look. In contrast to his sharp sense of sartorial style, he’s always depicted wearing – you guessed it – a chilling, grotesque black mask with the features of a skull. Sometimes, it’s purely there for show, other times it hides a disfigurement, but either way, it’s a fixture of the character and we look forward to seeing the type of mask the movie goes with.
Fan artist Count Lisa has now imagined how the Scottish actor might look as the classic Batman villain in the image below. The artwork captures the dual nature of Sionis as one half of McGregor’s face is uncovered while the other half dons the black skull mask. The artist went with the traditional grisly design here and not the more metallic version seen in the Arkham games or more recent comics, but it still works well.
As you surely know, McGregor’s Black Mask will terrorizing a bunch of DC’s toughest heroines in the movie, the titular Birds of Prey. Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn headlines along with Mary Elizabeth Winstead as Huntress, Jumee Smollett-Bell as Black Canary and Rosie Perez as Renee Montoya. The plot’s set to center around the trio attempting to rescue Cassandra Cain from Sionis’ clutches as he bids to take over the Gotham underworld (a Gotham without Batman around to protect it).
Cathy Yan’s directing Birds of Prey with production starting next January, before it arrives in cinemas a little over a year later on February 7th, 2020.