Margot Robbie wanted to highlight lesser-known characters in Birds of Prey
By Shaun Stacy
DC’s live-action cinematic universe is set to release Birds of Prey on February 7, which sees Harley Quinn team up with various female heroes — but where’s Batgirl?
Wonder Woman and Joker aside, DC’s lineup of live-action movies has seen better days, with one of the commercial hits somehow being Suicide Squad. The character of Harley Quinn, played by Margot Robbie, particularly struck a chord with audiences, so we knew we would see her again. Most people anticipated her return in the Suicide Squad sequel, which now appears to be more of a reboot, but fans probably weren’t expecting her to headline a Birds of Prey movie, where she teams up with classic characters like Black Canary and Huntress. And with good reason.
Let’s start at the beginning. Birds of Prey was originally a limited-series comic book published in the late ’90s that paired up Black Canary with a newly paralyzed Barbara Gordon, aka Batgirl, now going by the codename Oracle. Essentially, Oracle would stay in communication with Black Canary, who would be on the ground, and steer the Canary toward crime/evildoers. When renowned comic book writer Gail Simone took over the book in an ongoing capacity in 2003, she added the character of Huntress (Helena Bertinelli) to complete the trio.
At this point in the series, each character seemed to work as a foil for the other two. Oracle and Black Canary had built up a mutual respect for each other, while Huntress was the new girl with a grudge on her shoulder and Canary would often have to mediate between Oracle and Huntress. The trio went on to become a close-knit team and eventually added new members like Vixen, Katana, and Hawkgirl. The series gained both attention and praise, remaining one of DC’s most popular properties to this day.
The original ongoing run of the series would inspire a live-action Birds of Prey television series that aired on The WB network in 2002. The show featured Dina Meyer as Barbara Gordon/Oracle/Batgirl, Ashley Scott as Huntress/Helena Kyle, and Rachel Skarsten as Dinah Lance/Black Canary. While the performances — particularly Meyer’s portrayal of Barbara — were solid, the series lacked direction and only lasted one season. Fans of the show largely consider it ahead of it’s time, and they’re probably right.
So, you can see how DC fans would be confused about why Harley Quinn is seen leading the Birds of Prey team in the trailer, instead of Batgirl. Another comic book limited series, titled Gotham City Sirens, focuses on Catwoman, Harley Quinn, and Poison Ivy as an almost anti-Birds of Prey team, which seemed much more suitable for Harley’s character.
Margot Robbie, also an executive producer of the film, felt she could use the popularity of Harley Quinn to bring attention to “lesser-known” characters in the DC universe, like Black Canary, Huntress, and Cassandra Cain.
Speaking with Nerdist, Robbie explained, “Focusing on the Gotham City Sirens, there were only three of us and we were all well known, whereas with Birds of Prey you can pick any grouping for that, and I thought that might be the perfect platform to introduce some female characters who might really have some legs in the DC Universe.”
As an avid comic book reader, I feel conflicted about this statement. Yes, it’s true that there have been iterations of the Bird of Prey team that have featured lesser-known characters who either rarely or haven’t appeared at all in a live-action format. However, the characters they ended up with in Black Canary, Huntress, and Renee Montoya have all appeared heavily on television in either The CW’s Arrow and Fox’s Gotham live-action series.
To me, if you were wanting to showcase lesser-known Birds of Prey characters, I would’ve liked to have seen Lady Blackhawk, Black Alice, or even Power Girl. Up until this point, whenever Black Canary and Huntress were associated with the Birds of Prey name, it always included Barbara Gordon either as Batgirl or Oracle, so I can’t help but feel a little cheated that there will be no Barbara in the movie. Maybe she’ll be part of the sequel?
Next. Green Arrow & the Canaries: Women rule the Arrowverse. dark