A brand new trailer gives a first glimpse at Ewan McGregor’s Black Mask in his supervillain getup, but how does the original comic character compare to what we know so far about live-action version in Birds of Prey (And The Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn)? Following on from her debut in Suicide Squad, Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn is set to make her second DCEU appearance in Birds of Prey, emancipated from the shackles of “Mr. J” and united with some of Gotham City’s strongest women in Black Canary (Jurnee Smollett-Bell), Cassandra Cain (Ella Jay Basco) Huntress (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) and the former GCPD detective, Renee Montoya (Rosie Perez).

While seemingly a disparate motley crew, all of the above have history with Roman Sionis, a Gotham crime lord that goes by the name of Black Mask. As highlighted in the trailer, each girl has wronged Sionis is some way (robbed, betrayed, killed and investigated, apparently) and although fans don’t yet know his grievance with Quinn, Robbie’s character brings the others together in order to stay alive and fight back against Black Mask. Despite being a prominent enemy of Batman’s in the DC comics, Birds of Prey marks the first live-action portrayal of Black Mask, and the latest trailer finally reveals the character in full supervillain gear.

Although it’s still early days for Black Mask on the big screen, some parallels and differences to the original comic villain can already be drawn, both in terms of appearance and personality. The core of Black Mask certainly appears to remain untouched. As in the comics, Ewan McGregor is playing a powerful crime boss that dons an ebony skull-like mask on special occasions. It’s also evident from the trailer that McGregor will be channeling the more sadistic side of Roman Sionis, as there are scenes in which the mob boss is clearly enjoying the pain and suffering of others (especially with pliers), and this comes straight from DC’s source material.

In a further consistency between the two mediums, the first Birds of Prey trailer hints at Sionis experiencing some kind of trauma. Indeed, the original version of the character had significant parental issues and an unhealthy personal vendetta against a certain Bruce Wayne. While there’s no suggestion of the Wayne element in Birds of Prey, Black Mask certainly seems to have a lot of unresolved issues on his mind. This may be derived from the New 52 reboot of the DC universe, in which Black Mask was portrayed as having a split personality, with Sionis and Black Mask two distinct entities. The henchmen also look to be mostly comic-accurate. Victor Zsasz is a known associate of Black Mask in the DC world, and there’s a brief shot that appears to include the False Facers - Black Mask’s comic henchmen - although most of his heavies look like regular goons.

Visually, the live-action Black Mask more or less resembles the comic character. The mask-and-suit combo is the villain’s trademark getup and the item from which the character derives his name is immediately recognizable in the trailer, even without any previous knowledge of McGregor’s role. Interestingly, the mask worn in the comics is made out of coffin wood from the resting place of Roman’s father, and it appears the Birds of Prey mask might be made of the same stuff, although this is hard to confirm entirely from the footage available. Nevertheless, the mask is more in keeping with classic comic design, rather than the DC Rebirth metallic version. In the New 52 series, Sionis’ mask is implanted with mind-control technology, but there is no suggestion of this in the Birds of Prey trailer.

Additionally, there are some more character-based differences between the comic and live action Black Mask and, predictably, most of these result from an attempt to ground the villain in reality for Hollywood remake purposes. For example, the Black Mask in Birds of Prey looks to be operating out of a nightclub and a swanky apartment complex, whereas the original former a criminal base in his family crypt. In terms of his personality, McGregor’s Sionis could be described as significantly more flamboyant than his printed counterpart, and this is likely to be an attempt to match the extravagant and kooky tone of the Birds of Prey movie.

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