Although it seems like the DC Extended Universe (DCEU) had a bit of a rocky start (at least in comparison to the runaway success of the Marvel movies), things seem to be looking up for the DCEU. After a string of hit or miss films it seems like DC finally has some breakout successes with their films and with particular characters in those films, and one of the most successful and well received film characters is easily their morally ambiguous villainess, Harley Quinn.
Harley Quinn made her big screen debut in 2016’s Suicide Squad, and the astoundingly positive reception for her character made it seem like an individual Harley Quinn movie was inevitable. Once DC announced the incoming film Birds of Prey: And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn, the hype level was at its maximum. The studio has been pretty tight-lipped about the movie so far, but here are 10 things that we already know about Birds of Prey.
The Movie Is Rated R
Often times when it comes to blockbuster comic book movies in the DC or Marvel cinematic universes, the filmmakers and studios will go way out of their way to ensure that their films wind up with a PG-13 rating at the most. It’s easy to see why, since getting an R rating can severely limit the potential audience for these movies, which are pretty much guaranteed to be successful but that also have a massive budget that needs to be earned back.
However, that doesn’t seem to be the case with Birds of Prey, which has already been confirmed to have an R rating.
It’ll Be A Heavy Dose Of Girl Power
This may be stating the obvious, but clearly Birds of Prey: And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn is supposed to be one power packed punch of girly heroism.
Any movie with Harley Quinn and the Birds of Prey at the helm is guaranteed to be an extravaganza of femininity, but apparently DC was so pleased with the success of Wonder Woman they were willing to go all in on a squad of female villains/heroes for the film. The only significant male characters in the movie (at least as far as we know now) seem to be Black Mask and Victor Zsasz.
Black Mask Is The Villain…
Black Mask may not be one of the most familiar DC villains for the average viewer, but while he’s not on the level of a character like the Joker, he is still a pretty big ticket item in the DC comics universe.
Black Mask has undergone a lot of makeovers and character reinventions over the course of his existence, but he has consistently been portrayed as a crime lord in Gotham City who seems to be a bit of a sadist and (unsurprisingly) has a keen fixation on masks. In Birds of Prey, he’s going to run afoul of Harley and the ladies when they decide to protect a young girl from his wrath.
And So Is Victor Zsasz
It appears that Black Mask is going to be the main DC villain who appears in Birds of Prey, but it also seems that he isn’t the only notorious comic book villain that is going to make his mark on the movie. Victor Zsasz is another DC comics supervillain that is poised to make his DCCU debut in the Birds of Prey movie, and Victor kinda makes Black Mask look normal by comparison.
Zsasz is a deranged serial killer who gets his jollies from mutilating his victims as well as himself. Although his purpose in the movie is unclear at this point, he obviously can’t be up to anything good.
The Girls Are Saving Batgirl
The main premise of the film is that Harley and the rest of the Birds of Prey are going to team up and protect a young girl who has come across a diamond that belongs to Black Mask from any of the dastardly crime lord’s punishments and pain. That young girl just so happens to be named Cassandra Cain.
Cassandra is obviously just a teen in Birds of Prey, but she’s a character that a lot of long-time DC comics fans will be familiar with. In the comics, she becomes a superhero herself. She is actually one of a few different characters who has assumed the identity of Batgirl.
Harley Won’t Be As Sexy
Within the DC cinematic universe, Suicide Squad was a relatively successful film, and Harley Quinn was undoubtedly it’s breakout character and star. But when Margot Robbie and the entire production team behind Birds of Prey started to develop the idea behind this film, there were some specific changes that they were interested in making for Harley herself.
Namely, they decided that the character needed to be more fun and less sexy. Robbie explained that a lot of the outfits she wore for Suicide Squad were actually uncomfortable. Because the team working on Birds of Prey was predominantly ran by women, they had no problem with removing the more male-pleasing looks for Harley.
It Takes Place After Suicide Squad…
Although Birds of Prey: And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn is clearly meant to be a separate film (or possible separate franchise) from Suicide Squad, it’s clear that the filmmakers are taking the bigger picture of the DCEU and Suicide Squad into account with this film.
Birds of Prey is a film that is supposed to be set after the events of Suicide Squad, and it is presumably not too big of a time jump from Harley’s original film to this film. In a strange way it’s almost a sequel to Suicide Squad, or at the very least it’s a sequel to Harley’s story that began in Suicide Squad.
But Before Suicide Squad 2
As we said Birds of Prey: And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn isn’t making too much of a time jump after the original installment of Suicide Squad, and that’s pretty clear for one main reason. Because whatever is happening in the second Suicide Squad is almost certainly going to take place after the events of this film.
Harley Quinn is also going to be featured in The Suicide Squad, which is the second installment into the Suicide Squad franchise. This means that the events of this film pretty clearly have to be contained within the time period in between these two films.
It’s The (Rumored) First Film In A Trilogy
Presumably the studio wants to wait and see how Birds of Prey: And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn performs at the box office before making this announcement, but rumor has it that this installment into the DC cinematic universe is just the first movie in a proposed trilogy of films about Harley Quinn.
As of this writing, it’s still unclear how the other characters in Birds of Prey will factor into the next two films or how much of a role they’re all going to play going forward (although that will likely depend on the success of this movie as well).
Adios, Puddin'?
One of the bigger questions around Birds of Prey and Harley Quinn in general that may or may not have been answered is whether or not Jared Leto’s version of the Joker will be a factor in the film or any of the films going forward.
Leto’s Joker is arguably the least popular iteration of the character in feature film history, and his role in Suicide Squad was greatly reduced. Plus, when you look at the full title of Birds of Prey: And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn, it would seem obvious that Harley’s relationship with the Joker is done or near done anyway. But Leto has hinted that he will be appearing in the film at some point.
