While the DC Cinematic Universe seems to be a bit tangled when it comes to what’s connected and what’s not, it’s a safe bet that the upcoming Birds of Prey: And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn is set in the main universe with Margot Robbie returning as Harley as seen previously in Suicide Squad.
Right?
Well…
Director Cathy Yan has described the movie as a “standalone origin story”… so, it’s not connected to the other movies?! What’s going on!? Agggghhhhhhhhhhh!
Well, no, it doesn’t mean anything of the sort. In the same way that everyone lost their mind that James Gunn’s Suicide Squad was a reboot despite all the retuning stars, it seems – to me, at least – that this is simply a movie with little connection to the others, while still existing in that world.
Although, at Brazil Comic Con last week, it was confirmed at the BoP presentation that Jared Leto’s Joker would be in the movie albeit through scenes originally filmed for Suicide Squad… but no matter, when they were filmed, this proves Leto is still the DCEU Joker and these movies ARE connected.
Production designer K.K. Barrett says the movie “exists in by itself. Like the characters being in their own heads, the world the story takes place over could be many different decades. It’s not any singular time. There’s nothing that adheres it to now or to then. It could be a story that’s told and made up, as these are, and there’s a little bit of fiction and lies going on so you can’t really trust what you see.”
Hmmmm… don’t trust what you see? So, could this be, as some speculated, that the movie will, to some extent, take pace inside Harley’s head and therefore is, well, not to be entirely trusted as her grip on reality is… fleeting?
“I kept saying like, ‘Oh, Harley does so much better when she has people to play with.’ I kept thinking that in real life I had such a girl gang, like my group of girlfriends, and I just want Harley to have a girl gang,” Robbie says.
“I just want it to be like a girl gang for Harley to be a part of. And then obviously I’d been reading a ton of the comics, anything involving Harley, and one of the separate line of comics is the Birds of Prey, which I started reading. And Harley’s not a traditional member of the Birds of Prey, but it was a fun kind of girl gang to kind of dip in and out of, I suppose.”
“It really started with Huntress,” Robbie continues. “I just loved Huntress, and with my initial pitch on the story, I said I wanted to keep it quite contained, get no bigger, and no world-ending stakes. Like the stakes were as big as perhaps mafia level or gang level as kind of a basis.”
So Harley, again as we speculated, isn’t exactly part of the Birds of Prey but rather crosses their path as both fall into the same adventure? Works for me.
What say you all?
“You ever hear the one about the cop, the songbird, the psycho and the mafia princess? BIRDS OF PREY (AND THE FANTABULOUS EMANCIPATION OF ONE HARLEY QUINN) is a twisted tale told by Harley herself, as only Harley can tell it. When Gotham’s most nefariously narcissistic villain, Roman Sionis, and his zealous right-hand, Zsasz, put a target on a young girl named Cass, the city is turned upside down looking for her. Harley, Huntress, Black Canary and Renee Montoya’s paths collide, and the unlikely foursome have no choice but to team up to take Roman down.”
Margot Robbie will reprise her SUICIDE SQUAD role of Harley Quinn in the film, which also stars Mary Elizabeth Winstead as Huntress, Jurnee Smollett-Bell as Black Canary, Ella Jay Basco as Cassandra Cain, Ewan McGregor as the villain Black Mask, Chris Messina as Victor Zsasz, and Rosie Perez as Renee Montoya. Additionally, Ali Wong (FRESH OFF THE BOAT), Robert Catrini (AMERICAN CRIME STORY), Steven Williams (IT), and Derek Wilson (PREACHER) round out the ensemble.
Cathy Yan (DEAD PIGS) will direct the spin-off, making her the first female Asian director to helm a superhero film. Christina Hodson (BUMBLEBEE) penned the script.
BIRDS OF PREY opens in theaters on February 7, 2020.
Here’s the new trailer/spot from The Game Awards 2019:
Source: io9
Marc
Marc is a self-confessed nerd. Ever since seeing Star Wars for the first time around 1979 he’s been an unapologetic fan of the Wars and still believes, with Clone Wars and now Underworld, we are yet to see the best Star Wars. He’s a dad of two who now doesn’t have the time (or money) to collect the amount of toys, comics, movies and books he once did, much to the relief of his long-suffering wife. In the real world he’s a graphic designer. He started Following the Nerd because he was tired of searching a million sites every day for all the best news that he loves and decided to create one place where you can go to get the whole lot. Secretly he longs to be sitting in the cockpit of his YT-1300 Corellian Transport ship with his co-pilot Chewie, roaming the universe, waiting for his next big adventure, but feels just at home watching cartoons with his kids….
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