For a long while, there’s been a lot of talk that Black Mask would be depicted as gay in Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn). In fact, We Got This Covered was the first outlet to report on it last year. However, it’s been difficult to ascertain whether this is the case from the trailers, which haven’t focused much on Ewan McGregor’s crime boss and his number one henchman, Victor Zsasz, as played by Chris Messina.
At the premiere for the Margot Robbie-starring movie, though, Variety cornered McGregor and Messina and asked them head-on for the truth about the nature of their characters’ relationship. The pair danced around the answer for a bit before McGregor seemed to cut through the waffle and confirm that, yes, the two villains are gay.
Are Ewan McGregor and Chris Messina's characters gay in #BirdsofPrey? pic.twitter.com/f1avM9aGSO
— Variety (@Variety) January 24, 2020
“It’s very complicated, “McGregor began when asked the question. “Their relationship is very much based… there’s a want and a need in there for sure.”
“There’s like a real love of anarchy. I think they…” Messina added, before McGregor interjected.
“More than likely, yes,” the Scottish star said, appearing to confirm the truth, causing he and Messina to laugh. Variety’s Marc Malkin then turned to the camera and said: “You heard it here first,” joking that the pair are now going to get in trouble. “You’re like ‘uh, oh Warner Bros. said we weren’t supposed to say’…”
There was initially some backlash against the idea of Black Mask being portrayed as queer, as reports pointed to the initial cut of the film featuring some plot points to do with the character that appeared to be in poor taste. However, these have been removed via reshoots and the theatrical cut of BoP seems to be much improved (and also apparently implies that the villain is actually bisexual). With any luck, then, Black Mask will turn out to be a fan favorite when Birds of Prey hits theaters in a couple of weeks, on February 7th.