Comic book fans have been calling for a Birds of Prey adaptation for years, with the collected appeal and talent of Batgirl, Black Canary, Huntress, and more a package deal. But it’s only proven possible through the box office clout of Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn. And as many fans have noticed, the early marketing left no question as to Harley’s leading role in the Birds of Prey’s own film. So is it ‘a Harley Quinn movie’ with the Birds supporting?
Screen Rant had the opportunity to ask that very question to Sue Kroll, producer of Birds of Prey (And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) during production in March. To clarify the relationship between Harley and the rest of the new characters, Kroll framed the film as “an origin story about the Birds of Prey, told uniquely through Harley Quinn’s point of view.” confirming that Harley is the narrator of the film, as the Birds of Prey trailers have suggested, all involved were hesitant to use the words ’team-up’ to describe the journey of the cast.
Not a team-up, not a Harley movie, but with the Birds themselves given a bit of a backseat in the marketing. These questions and more were posed to director Cathy Yan, so see how she makes sense of it all:
This movie is refreshing as a female ensemble, and the team behind the camera. But it feels really different from a lot of superhero stories in the sense that it isn’t playing into the ‘Chosen One’ trope, or having one savior, one villain. Was that something you thought about?
It’s really Harley’s story, as well as all of these women’s stories. And in a way their stories kind of echo each other. So when our title includes ‘The Emancipation of One Harley Quinn’ that is essentially the story that she goes on. We find her basically without the Joker at the beginning of the film, and through the film she learns that she doesn’t need anyone but herself. She doesn’t necessarily make friends with the other women, but they come together, and through that they all sort of emancipate themselves throughout the film. And of course, a really important relationship is her relationship with little Cass, as well.
We’re seeing this story through Harley’s eyes, but you’ve got such a cool ensemble here. How much will we see it from the perspective of other characters?
I think that’s certainly something I gravitated to when I read the script. I love that. I love that it isn’t really ‘The Harley Quinn Movie,’ it very much is broader than that, and we check in with all of these women. It’s truly an ensemble film, it’s not even a team. You see them as a team right now, but we really spend time with each of these women, and they are very much the protagonists in the film. I joke that we have two villains and five protagonists. And they each really are their own… they feel like leads. And I like that. I like that story, I think it hasn’t really been told in that way.
A few years ago a comic book movie with five main characters would have seemed a sure-fire chance to turn cast members into multiple spinoffs and film franchises. But Birds of Prey isn’t so easily divided. After all, Harley Quinn may be seen next in The Suicide Squad, but the Birds end up forming an actual team in the comics. The fact that their formation (if it even happens) will be viewed by Harley, the one member leaving for her next film, makes predictions even more difficult. For now, fans can simply hope that Yan and Kroll’s description of the ensemble cast each pursuing their own end proves true. If it does, then expectations for a Birds of Prey movie might actually be exceeded.
A lot, yeah. I’ll say that. A lot. It’s Harley’s story and she tells it, but like I said, it very much is a story of all of these women and how they come together.
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