Here’s our guide to all the DCEU Easter eggs and references in Birds of Prey. Starring Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn, Birds of Prey is essentially a Suicide Squad spinoff. It’s set entirely in Gotham City, although it’s curiously absent of members of the Bat-Family. As with any superhero blockbuster, however, the film is packed with Easter eggs.
The majority of these Easter eggs are, naturally, related to Harley Quinn and the Joker. They reflect the fact that this is Birds of Prey in name only; in reality, it’s a Harley Quinn comic writ large, with all the craziness and zaniness readers of those comics will recognize. In an interview with CBR back in 2016, DC Publisher Jim Lee noted Harley has become the “fourth pillar” of DC Comics, joining Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman. Although Suicide Squad was hardly a runaway success, Margot Robbie was universally praised, and her Harley Quinn costume became the most popular Halloween outfit that year - even Sarah Michelle Gellar got in on the act. So DC is clearly hoping history can repeat itself on the big screen, with Harley becoming a major draw for audiences.
In light of this, let’s take a closer look at the latest chapter of the DC Extended Universe, and explore all its Easter eggs and subtle references.
24. Harley Quinn’s Original Animated Origin
Birds of Prey accurately presents Harley Quinn’s backstory, complete with some shots lifted straight from Suicide Squad to ensure there’s a strong sense of continuity here. But it goes a lot deeper, exploring Harley’s abusive childhood - and her dad who traded her in for a can of beer. Attentive viewers will note the beer is called “DINI,” a reference to Harley’s creator Paul Dini. This isn’t the only nod to Harley’s creators, with two cops called Dimm and Tini (swap the first letters for names that honor both Paul Dini and Bruce Timm). Later, Renee Montoya’s TV shows an image of Arleen Sorkin as a Harlequin in Days of Our Lives; this was actually the inspiration for Harley, and Sorkin voiced her in Batman: The Animated Series.
23. Harley’s Pets Are Lifted Straight From The Comics…
Both Bernie the Beaver and Harley’s pet hyenas are established parts of Harley Quinn lore. As in Birds of Prey, the comic book version of Bernie is a stuffed animal who Harley is convinced can talk - he’s even had character arcs, and is apparently quite randy. Harley Quinn’s hyenas, meanwhile, were introduced in Batman: The Animated Series, where they were a twisted version of the family pets. Like Harley herself, they made the jump to the comics and now to the big screen.
22. Harley Has A Thing For Bruce Wayne
Harley’s hyenas are traditionally named Bud and Lou, after Abbot and Costello. In both the animated series and the comics, those names were chosen by the Joker - meaning they really wouldn’t be appropriate for a film where Harley is getting over her ex. Instead, in the DCEU Harley has named her single pet hyena “Bruce” - after “that hunky Wayne guy.” Harley clearly has quite a thing for Bruce Wayne, even wearing the name “Bruce” on a dog tag.
21. Harley Quinn’s Costume Changes
Birds of Prey pays homage to almost all of Harley Quinn’s previous looks. Her traditional costume is shown in animated flashback, and the roller-blade outfit is lifted straight from 2013’s Harley Quinn #1 (the number “92” references the year of her debut in Batman: The Animated Series). Amusingly, Harley decides she wants to keep the Suicide Squad outfit, claiming it has “sentimental value.” Notice a katana in Harley’s box of goodies at Amusement Mile (she worked with Katana in Suicide Squad). While this is unlikely to be Katana’s actual blade, it suggest Harley liked the weapon and wanted one of her own.
20. Some Hilarious Injustice Nods
Birds of Prey lifts a lot of its style and tone from Tom Taylor’s much-loved Injustice series. In fact, one scene is played straight from those comics, with Harley Quinn storming a police station. Even the dialogue is perfectly comic-book-accurate. “I’d like to report a terrible crime,” Harley quips, before unleashing mayhem on the Gotham City Police Department.
19. Harley Quinn Knows The East Side
In one scene, Harley Quinn comments that she knows Gotham’s East Side better than anyone. This is the poorest part of Gotham, and the notorious Crime Alley - site of the Wayne murders - is situated there. The Joker has never been massively active in the East Side, so this may hint that the nunnery Harley went to as a child was situated there. Of course, Harley Quinn isn’t necessarily a reliable narrator, so the nuns may not have been quite so bad as she claims.
18. Harley Voted For Bernie Sanders
According to the list of “grievances” that Black Mask has with her, Harley Quinn voted for Bernie Sanders. That may not mean anything about Harley’s political leanings, though; given how whimsical she is, she may have cast her vote for Bernie just because his name reminded her of her beaver.
17. The Joker’s Absence Feels Pointed
Harley Quinn spends the entirety of Birds of Prey struggling to get out of the Joker’s shadow. Curiously, though, there’s next to no hint of Jared Leto’s Joker; all the animations show a far more traditional version of the Clown Prince of Crime, and Harley rattles off his comic book nicknames when she’s trying to impress Cassandra Cain. Leto’s version of the Joker wasn’t exactly a hit in Suicide Squad, and there’s been intense speculation he’ll be recast. His deliberate absence, even carefully excised in flashbacks from Suicide Squad, seems to hint that will indeed be the case.
16. Harley Destroys ACE Chemicals
Harley announces a change in her relationship status by destroying ACE Chemicals, the plant where the Joker was born and where she was herself transformed. ACE Chemicals is an established part of the DCEU, with this specific location appearing in Suicide Squad. Billy Batson practiced his superpowers at another ACE Chemicals plant in Shazam! as well.
15. Harley Heads To Amusement Mile
Later in the film, when Harley needs a place to arrange a meet, she chooses the Joker’s turf - Amusement Mile. An abandoned amusement park in North Gotham, this is traditionally the Joker’s base of operations, most famous for its role in The Killing Joke. It seems the Joker has decided to leave that for Harley, because he’s taken all his equipment out and left a crate packed with Harley’s few belongings. Look carefully, and you’ll spot “HAHAHAHAHAH” scrawled on one wall in a similar style to the Joker’s laugh in The Dark Knight Returns. It also resembles the distinctive tattoos on Leto’s Joker.
14. The Joker’s Creator Gets A Subtle Nod
There’s a throwaway mention of Robinson Park, a classic Batman location named after Jerry Robinson, the man who created the Joker. This was even referenced in Todd Phillips’ Joker - but, of course, that doesn’t mean these films exist in the same universe. They most certainly don’t.
13. Black Canary’s Family History
Birds of Prey rewrites Dinah Drake’s backstory, revealing she’s the second Black Canary - having inherited her powers from her mother. It seems the original Black Canary was a Gotham vigilante, presumably long before Bruce Wayne ever donned the cowl. This revised history is a clever way of handling Black Canary’s confused comic book origin. In the comics, Black Canary remained active and youthful for so long DC retconned her history to reveal there had been two Black Canaries after all.
12. The Canary Cry Is Unleashed
Black Canary gets one of the pivotal scenes in Black Canary, when the girls are surrounded by Black Mask’s goons. She unleashes her Canary Cry for the first time, a devastating sonic attack that blasts Black Mask’s gang aside. The scene is evocative of one in Tom Taylor’s Injustice: Year Two, and the comic book writer was delighted to see it on the big screen.
11. Black Canary’s First Outfit
Superhero costumes are seldom practical, especially female ones. In the comics, Black Canary is well known for running around in fishnet tights; in fact, it’s frequently turned into something of a gag, with fellow heroes recognizing who’s come to their assistance as soon as they see her legs. Birds of Prey honors this in Dinah’s club outfit, but swiftly drops it for some rather more combat-appropriate attire.
10. Huntress’ Backstory Is Fairly Comic-Book-Accurate
Huntress’ origin story is loosely adapted from Greg Rucka’s Batman/Huntress: Cry for Blood limited series. There, she was portrayed as a member of the Bertinelli family who witnessed her entire family being slaughtered by a rival Gotham gang, and swore revenge on the perpetrators. The Huntress: Year One miniseries further established that Helena was subsequently brought up in Sicily, an idea reproduced in Birds of Prey. Most of the other details have been switched up.
9. There’s A Single Nod To Cassandra Cain’s Comic Book Origin
Cassandra Cain bears absolute no relation to her comic book counterpart bar being an orphan (frankly, writer Christina Hodson might as well have just made up a new name). There’s only one nod to the Cassandra from the comics, in that she initially struggles to speak to Montoya - a reference to the fact that the comic book Cassandra is actually mute.
8. A Subtle Poison Ivy Easter Egg
Harley Quinn’s greatest love isn’t really the Joker - it’s Poison Ivy, and there’s actually a cool nod to her in Birds of Prey. The first is at the beginning, when Harley remembers her heart being broken before she met the Joker. She recalls two guys and one girl - and the girl is animated in exactly the style of Poison Ivy in Batman: The Animated Series. The clear implication is that the DCEU romance between Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy is different to the comics, because the two actually got together for the first time long before Harley became a supervillain. It’s clear setup for a reunion, and indeed director Cathy Yan has said she’d like to explore that romance in a sequel.
7. A Poison Ivy Villain Subtly Makes His Debut
Renee Montoya is suspended from the police force by a dirty cop named Tim Munroe, played by Derek Wilson. Viewers can be forgiven for not realizing Munroe is actually an established character in the comics; he was a corrupt police officer who killed an orphan Poison Ivy was protecting. Needless to say, Ivy got her revenge.
6. The Black Mask’s Backstory
In one scene,Black Mask furiously rants about his family background - and it’s entirely comic-book-accurate. According to Black Mask, he should have inherited the Janus Corporation (the logo is shown several times in the background, usually with the “J"blocked from sight). Janus was the parent company of ACE Chemicals in the comics, and there’s actually a Janus Corporation Easter egg in Justice League, when Batman and a Parademon fight on a sign for Janus Cosmetics.
5. Friends, Romans, Countrymen
Of course, Birds of Prey is unable to resist making a number of gags on Black Mask’s real name, “Roman Sionis.” The most amusing is one where he addresses his thugs in a variant of the “Friends, Romans, countrymen” formula created by William Shakespeare in his play Julius Caesar.
4. Black Mask and The False Face Society
Just as in the comics, Black Mask is obsessed with heads and masks; his thugs all don crazy masks in their attack on Amusement Mile, hinting at their being the “False Face Society” from the comics. Production designer K.K. Barrett makes a cameo as Dr. Aguilar, the scientist who gives Black Mask a botox injection.
3. Diamonds Are A Girl’s Best Friend
At one point, Harley Quinn suffers a concussion and dreams herself into a classic musical interlude in which she plays Marilyn Monroe singing “Diamonds are a Girl’s Best Friend.” The whole thing is a homage to 1953’s Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. In amusingly meta touch, this isn’t the first time Ewan McGregor has appeared in an adaptation of that number; it was also featured in Moulin Rouge!, with McGregor’s character falling in love with Nicole Kidman’s Satine during the song.
2. A Captain Boomerang Cameo - Sort Of
When Harley Quinn rampages through the police station, she pauses to declare that she recognizes a face on a wanted poster. It’s Jai Courtney’s Captain Boomerang, from Suicide Squad. It looks as though Harley isn’t the only former Squad member to have broken out of Belle Reeve. The Suicide Squad novelization fleshes Captain Boomerang’s backstory out, revealing he’d already clashed with the Flash several times before Captain Boomerang wound up in Belle Reve; the novelization’s canonicity is disputed, but it may suggest he’s already headed back to Central City for another round.
1. A Gag On The Harley Quinn Animated Series
Finally, while Birds of Prey doesn’t have a post-credits scene, it does feature an amusing voice-over from Harley. Are you dummies still sittin’ there? Fine. Since you stuck it out this long I’ll tell you a super duper secret secret. You can’t tell anyone. Okay. Did you know that Batman f-.” The audio cuts off at this point, leaving most viewers wondering just what Harley said. Fans of the Harley Quinn DC Universe animated series will get the joke, though; there, Harley has repeatedly insisted that Batman f**** bats. Her repeated gag has never managed to get under the Dark Knight’s skin.
More: Every DC Movie Coming After Birds Of Prey
- Birds of Prey Release Date: 2020-02-07 Wonder Woman 2 Release Date: 2020-12-25 The Batman Release Date: 2022-03-04 Suicide Squad 2 Release Date: 2021-08-06 Black Adam Release Date: 2022-10-21 Shazam! The Fury of the Gods Release Date: 2023-03-17 Super Pets Release Date: 2022-07-29 The Flash Movie Release Date: 2023-06-23 Aquaman 2 Release Date: 2023-12-25
