New Birds Of Prey Poster Is Simply Stunning
The Birds of Prey are coming. And while we all continue to count down the days until the film's February 7 release date, the folks at Warner Bros. continue to tease the unbridled insanity that's ahead for Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie) and her kickass squad of deadly femme fatales.
The official trailer for Birds of Prey dropped back in October, and it remains one of the more joyous experiences in the history of trailer-dom. Now, the newest movie tease comes in the guise of a breathtaking poster that places Harley and her wiley gang of goddesses square in the middle of a classic work of art from the 15th century. The work in question is The Birth of Venus by Sandro Botticelli, which gloriously depicts the arrival of Venus — the Roman goddess of love, beauty, sex, fertility, and victory — to an unknown shore on a scallop shell after her birth.
It'll come as no surprise that this glorious new Birds of Prey poster posits Harley herself (sledgehammer very much in hand) front and center, particularly as the subtitle of the film is (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn). Just in case there was any doubt, Birds of Prey is very much a Harley Quinn-centric story. Given that it finds Harley finally breaking free from the domineering "Mr. J" (DC Comics' infamous villain the Joker), we can imagine that a full-on spiritual rebirth is indeed ahead for one of Gotham's biggest little troublemakers.
With that in mind, the concept of Harley arriving anew in similar fashion as a mythological goddess is very on point — but her fellow birds of prey probably aren't exactly stoked to be relegated to the background (like the lesser-known gods and goddesses are in that Boticelli work). Still, those characters — which we'll get to talking about in a moment – look more than ready to tangle with anyone and anything that crosses their path, and Harley fans are certain to get a kick out of seeing one of her pet hyenas in the mix (though we can't tell if that's Bud or Lou). And, in a potentially loaded side question, does anyone have any idea what's in store for that happy little beaver riding the shell with Harley?
Whatever the case, the poster itself is a legit stunner, and should be more than enough to keep fans hyped for the release of Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn).
Who are the birdies swooping into action with Harley Quinn in Birds of Prey?
Birds of Prey finds Margot Robbie reprising her role from 2016's underwhelming DCEU offering Suicide Squad, with the new film apparently set to serve as a sort of bridge between it and James Gunn's currently in-production Suicide Squad reboot. We're not entirely sure how that's going to work just yet, but we're more than confident Gunn and the DC team have found an intriguing way to build that tricky bridge. However they do it, the fact that Robbie is returning as Harley will no doubt come as welcome news for anyone who suffered through 2016's Suicide Squad — mostly because Robbie's gonzo take on Harley Quinn was one of the few things that really worked in the film.
The folks at Warner Bros. clearly agreed, and were quick to get Robbie on board for Harley's pseudo-solo flick Birds of Prey. While Harley remains one of the more familiar faces in the DC canon (and its Batman-Joker-Gotham storylines in particular), the character's big screen "emancipation" act will see her facing off against a couple of Gotham's bigger baddies — Ewan McGregor's Black Mask and Chris Messina's Victor Zsasz — in service of protecting a young woman, Cassandra Cain, played by Ella Jay Basco. Surprisingly, she'll be doing it alongside one of Gotham's slightly less-popular good gals. Here's what you need to know about Harley Quinn's tough-as-nails crew in Birds of Prey.
Black Canary (Jurnee Smolett-Bell)
Black Canary is the bird in the gold blouse and flowing green cape at the top left of the new Birds of Prey poster. The one and only Jurnee Smolett-Bell (Eve Batistefrom the hidden '90s gem Eve's Bayou and Nicole Wright from True Blood) portrays her in the upcoming flick. Black Canary is one of the better-known heroes in the DC universe, and has frequently shared time with Green Arrow (most recently on the CW's flawed-but-fun series Arrow). Birds of Prey will mark the character's big-screen debut, and judging from the film's trailer, she's set to bring some serious hurt to the bad guys with her signature bone-breaking, hand-to-hand style. Also, she looks more than ready to inflict major harm with that branded baseball bat she's carrying, which means we may not get to see any sort of "canary cry" in the upcoming movie.
Huntress (Mary Elizabeth Winstead)
Though not quite as well known as Black Canary, the character swooping in alongside her in the Birds of Prey poster is Huntress. She's another heroine that'll be more than familiar to DC Comics fans — not only because of her longtime status as one of the Birds of Prey, but also because she'd eventually become Batgirl in the DC world. Like Black Canary, Huntress has also made a few appearances on Arrow – but the always-amazing Mary Elizabeth Winstead (Scott Pilgrim vs. the World) will portray Huntress in the Birds of Prey film, where the character will also be making her feature film debut. In case you didn't get the picture in the trailer, Huntress is all attitude and quick to throw down with her fists, but is far handier with her crossbow.
Renee Montoya (Rosie Perez)
If you're wondering who that is draped in red behind Harley's hyena, her name is Renee Montoya. Unlike her Birds of Prey counterparts, Montoya didn't get her start in the pages of any comic book. The badass Gotham Police Detective was actually created for Fox Kids' beloved show Batman: The Animated Series, and ended up making her comic debut before her episodes aired. The character recently appeared on Fox's bonkers Batman series Gotham, but Birds of Prey (in which she'll be played by the great Rosie Perez) will mark her first big-screen adventure.
On paper, there's nothing particularly special about Montoya, initially appearing as a hard-nosed detective assigned to Batman-related crimes in Gotham. Of course, she'd eventually resign from the GPD in disgust at its overt corruption, then go on to become the butt-kicking (and decidedly Rorshach-like) Question — though there's no indication she'll be playing that particular part in Birds of Prey.
Cassandra Cain (Ella Jay Basco)
The kid with the untied shoe who's riding in on a diamond right behind Harely is the youngster the Birds of Prey are out to protect in the film. Her name is Cassandra Cain, she's also making her big-screen debut, and she'll be played in the film by relative newcomer Ella Jay Basco. Though it looks like we're meeting Cassandra early in her development in Birds of Prey, in the DC comic books, the character was trained from birth to become the perfect assassin and eventual body guard of Rah's al Ghul. The life of an assassin didn't take, and Cassandra eventually stepped into the cape to become Batgirl. That being said, there's little indication as to how she'll be portrayed in Birds of Prey (or how she ended up on Black Mask's hit list for that matter), so we'll just have to wait and see what's ahead for the character when the film finally lands in theaters.
Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) is slated to debut on February 7, 2020.