Aside from knowing that Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn was a lock for the upcoming Birds of Prey movie, not much else had been divulged about the girl gang flick’s plot. Well, actually, we did receive a few surprises earlier today, but it sure didn’t take long for more details to surface.
As you may have heard, in addition to the (perhaps soon to be former) Clown Princess of Crime, the onscreen iteration of the cult favorite team to be featured in Cathy Yan’s epic was said to be rounded out by the likes of Black Canary, Huntress, Lady Shiva, Katana and – get this – the Cassandra Cain version of Batgirl. Seeing as how everyone was expecting Barbara Gordon, a Birds of Prey staple, in some fashion, that last one may have come as the biggest shocker of all.
Keep in mind that when YouTuber Grace Randolph spilled the above beans, she said that her scoop would likely precede an official announcement to be made on Monday at some point. And though what we’re about to pile on top of that doesn’t come by way of an official press release from Warner Bros., it does, however, corroborate most of Randolph’s report.
Thanks to The Wrap, we’re able to fire off some character descriptions for Black Canary, Huntress, Cassandra Cain and none other than Rene Montoya. Well, technically Montoya fights crime while wearing a badge, but diehard comic book readers will probably be thrilled to learn she’s in the mix.
Without further ado, here’s the word going around:
-Black Canary, aka Dinah Laurel, is a fantastic hand-to-hand combatant who comes from a family of crime fighters. Her father, Larry Lance, was a police officer, while her mother (also named Dinah) was the original Black Canary.
-Helena Bertinelli, aka Huntress, is a vigilante operating out of Gotham City.
-Cassandra Cain is one of the world’s greatest martial artists, and also a vigilante.
-Renee Montoya is a detective working for the Gotham City Police Department. Montoya is openly lesbian, and during The New 52 comics she takes on a costumed identity, becoming the Question.
Now, tipster extraordinaire Umberto Gonzalez didn’t say exactly who the villain of the piece would be, but did share that it’s a Batman baddie who hasn’t appeared in a movie before. This could be David Cain AKA Orphan as Randolph hinted at, though it would be badass to see someone like, say, Black Mask.
Conspicuous by their absence from Gonzalez’s report was any mention of Katana or Lady Shiva, but that doesn’t mean they won’t show up. After all, the former was played by Karen Fukuhara in Suicide Squad and has already established a working relationship with Margot Robbie, while the latter is the biological mother of Cassandra Cain. Therefore, Birds of Prey could end up being fan service at its finest.