During a recent late night appearance promoting Birds of Prey (And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn), Ewan McGregor discusses how proud he is to be a part of this female-made and female-driven superhero movie. The vast majority of movies made today (not just superhero movies) are still primarily made with men as their stars, directors, writers, and producers, but the industry is slowly becoming more equal in gender representation both in front and behind the camera.

In the case of superhero movies, Wonder Woman and Captain Marvel are recent examples of female-led films. Wonder Woman was also directed by Patty Jenkins, who returns for the sequel, Wonder Woman 1984, for which she also worked on the screenplay. Captain Marvel was co-directed by Anna Boden, and she also worked on the screenplay, as did Geneva Robertson-Dworet, while Guardian’s of the Galaxy’s co-writer, Nicole Perlman contributed to the story. It’s taken time, but recent years have seen women begin to leave their mark on superhero movies. Still, Birds of Prey is the first from a major studio that doesn’t just star women - Margot Robbie, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Jurnee Smollett-Bell, Rosie Perez, and Ella Jay Basco - it’s also directed, written, and largely produced by women - Cathy Yan, Christina Hodson, Sue Kroll and Robbie.

While promoting Birds of Prey during an appearance on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallen, Ewan McGregor shared how excited he is to part of this female-driven movie and for his role as the film’s villain and “chief misogyner” Black Mask.

Black Mask is the alter ego of crime boss Roman Sionis, and he is the very bad dude who Harley Quinn, Black Canary, Huntress, Renee Montoya, and Cass Cain must deal with in Birds of Prey. His right hand man and total psychopath, Victor Zsasz (Chris Messina), isn’t all too nice, either. And considering how Birds of Prey is the first superhero team-up film featuring a group of women, it’s perfect that their villains are misogynistic jerks who likely underestimate the damage this girl gang can do. As McGregor points out in his comments, aligning such attitudes with the film’s villains sends an important and powerful message that’s sadly still relevant and necessary.

“It’s about time that we’ve got this female-made, female-driven superhero movie. It’s a really powerful film. It was just exciting to be a part of a film that covers some of the misogynist nonsense that you ladies have to deal with on a daily basis. I was sort of honored to be the chief mysogyner in the movie. So, I’m not a very nice character in it. But I was proud to part of it, to start getting that sort of message further out there because it’s important.”

Birds of Prey is not only putting its women characters in the spotlight, it’s also allowing women to tell that story. It’s no secret how heavily involved Robbie has been behind the scenes, serving as one of the film’s producers in addition to its star. She’s been fundamental in shaping this next chapter of Harley’s story in DCEU and helping to bring lesser known DC characters to the big screen. Having a woman director working from a woman-penned script it equally as important, allowing the film a viewpoint that’s still rarely seen in big budget blockbuster. Being a female-driven project makes Birds of Prey (And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) a unique but also exciting, and it’s particularly exciting to hear McGregor wanted to part of it for just that reason.

Next: Birds Of Prey: Why Black Mask Wants To Kill Harley Quinn

Source: The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon

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