Before the DC Extended Universe’s Birds of Prey drops on February 7, we’re taking a closer look at all of the main characters featured in the movie.
Based on the comic book of the same name, Birds of Prey premieres on February 7, and it’s already receiving rave reviews from critics. The movie centers around Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn, last seen in 2016’s Suicide Squad, who just broke up with the Joker and finds herself in need of some backup as she tries to save the life of a young girl with a contract killing on her head.
Harley teams up with vigilantes the Huntress and Black Canary, and she even allies herself with Gotham City Police Detective Renee Montoya. But who are these lovely ladies of Gotham? And who is trying to kill them?
Let’s take a look at the cast of characters of Birds of Prey.
Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie)
One of the few comic book characters to originally debut in an animated series, Harley Quinn was Joker’s on-and-off girlfriend/right hand woman. She first appeared in Batman: The Animated Series during the early ’90s, but became so popular DC Comics made her a mainstay character. She would eventually step outside of the Joker’s shadow and stand on her own two feet.
In her newfound independence, she becomes more of an anti-hero, and she also finds a new love interest in fellow morally ambiguous Batman character Poison Ivy. This makes her one of the few LGBTQ+ characters in DC’s roster. Ivy and Harley’s relationship is often praised for it’s depiction of two female villains who just happen to be in love. It is unclear if this relationship will have any part of the upcoming film.
Margot Robbie originated the role of Harley Quinn in Suicide Squad, where she joined a government-sponsored team of former villains trying to play heroes. Robbie’s portrayal was a hit with fans and critics, making her follow-up appearance a sure thing in the DCEU world. Originally, Harley was supposed to be the villain of the movie, but the studio decided to go with the anti-hero slant and swapped Batgirl for Harley. Following her break-up with the Joker, Harley finds herself in hot water with a local mob boss, especially after she saves a young girl from being killed on his orders.
Huntress (Mary Elizabeth Winstead)
In the comic books, Helena Bertinelli is the daughter of a ruthless mob boss who eventually becomes the vigilante Huntress to avenge her family’s wrongs. She would become an honorary member of the Batman family, even adopting the Batgirl guise for a time. While she has no actual superpowers, Huntress is a skilled markswoman and an expert in hand-to-hand combat, making her a lethal threat. Shortly after Black Canary and Oracle formed the Birds of Prey team, Huntress joined, completing the classic line-up of female heroes.
In the film, Huntress is portrayed by award-winning actress Mary Elizabeth Winstead. From all accounts, Winstead is playing a pretty comic-accurate Huntress, keeping the daughter of a mob boss backstory and the same skill set. Reports have also indicated that she will be orphaned, though it hasn’t been made clear if that was at her own hands or not.
Black Canary (Jurnee Smollett-Bell)
Black Canary is a mainstay in DC Comics such as Justice Society of America and Justice League of America. She is often paired with her romantic love interest, Green Arrow, or with her best friend, Barbara Gordon/Batgirl/Oracle. Black Canary is a skilled martial artist with the ability to generate a “canary cry,” an ultrasonic scream that can create concussive force strong enough to shatter metal. Black Canary has also appeared in multiple other forms of media, including the Young Justice animated series and television shows such as Smallville and Arrow.
Award-winning actress Jurnee Smollett-Bell plays Black Canary, aka Dinah Lance. In the film, she is a vigilante who retains her canary cry from the comics and is also a lounge singer at a club owned by the film’s Big Bad, Roman Sionis, aka Black Mask (no relation), played by Ewan McGregor. From the trailers, we’ve seen that Harley and Dinah have a frenemy-type relationship, though it appears that Harley is always there for Dinah when she needs a hair tie. Black Canary also seems to be fond of baseball bats, which is a new type of weapon for her to be seen with.
Renee Montoya (Rosie Perez)
Detective Renee Montoya is another character who was created for Batman: The Animated Series as a foil to fellow police officer, Harvey Bullock. However, she was preemptively introduced into mainstream comics before her animated debut and her character has grown exponentially since. Over the years, she frequently worked alongside Batman, but was eventually outed a lesbian which lead her to resign her position with the Gotham PD. Although not possessing any superpowers, Renee uses her detective skills and combat training to become a hero named the Question. Victoria Cartagena played Renee Montoya in Fox’s Gotham series, while the character of Anna Ramirez who was featured in The Dark Knight was also inspired by Renee.
Celebrated dancer and actress Rosie Perez plays Renee Montoya in Birds of Prey. From the little we’ve seen her in the trailers, it appears as though she is also after some sort of “emancipation” like Harley. Perhaps struggling to have herself taken seriously as a lesbian cop among her male co-workers? We do know that is also building a case against Black Mask and eventually teams up with the rest of the ladies to take him down. It is unclear yet if the character is indeed a lesbian, or if any hints about her becoming the Question, will be included in the film.
Cassandra Cain (Ella Jay Basco)
In the comics, Cassandra Cain is the daughter of infamous villainess Lady Shiva, but eventually becomes an iteration of Batgirl and later, the hero Orphan. Cassandra was deprived of human contact and speech while her parents trained her to become the world’s deadliest assassin, which means she consequently grew up to be an expert martial artist who was mute, illiterate and had limited social skills. Batman eventually takes her under his wing, turning her from a feral assassin to an outright hero. It’s also worth noting that Cassandra is the first Batgirl to have her own ongoing series, a huge accomplishment for a character of Asian descent.
This one seems to be the biggest departure from her comic book counterpart. Cassandra Cain is played by Ella Jay Basco, and appears some years younger than when she debuted in the comics. A bounty is put on her head by Black Mask after Cassandra steals a valuable diamond from him. Along the way, she is befriended by Harley, who makes it her mission to protect Cassandra at all costs.
This is DC’s second attempt at a live-action Birds of Prey, the first being the short-lived WB show that ran from 2002-2003. The television series featured alternate versions of the Huntress and Black Canary, but was praised for it’s depiction of Barbara Gordon, aka Oracle, who was one of the founding members of the team in the comic book. The Huntress, played by Ashley Scott, reprised her role for a cameo appearance in The CW’s Crisis on Infinite Earths, which also featured a cameo voiceover by Dina Meyer, the actress who played Oracle.