For the last few months, we’ve had an idea of which characters will be joining Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn in Warner Brothers’ Birds of Prey picture – and now comes word on who could be in the frame to nab some of these roles.
Courtesy of The Hollywood Reporter, we have some news on who is in consideration to play Black Canary, Huntress, Renee Montoya, and Cassandra Cain.
For the Canary gig, the current names up for the role are Black Mirror’s Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Underground’s Jurnee Smollet-Bell, and Hidden Figures’ Janelle Monae. It’s believed that Warners is currently looking to cast an African-American actress as Black Canary, and Mbatha-Raw is seen as the frontrunner for the part at this stage.
Where Huntress is concerned, Scott Pilgrim vs. The World’s Mary Elizabeth Winstead, The Leftovers’ Margaret Qualley, and How I Met Your Mother’s Cristin Milioti are the names linked to the part. Despite initially being introduced as Helena Wayne – the daughter of Bruce Wayne and Selina Kyle – it’s expected that we’ll get the Helena Bertinelli take on Huntress in Birds of Prey. Helena is the daughter of a mob boss, with her becoming a brutal vigilante following some gnarly mob violence.
As for Renee Montoya, One Day at a Time’s Justina Machado and I Love Dick’s Roberta Colindrez are the names up for that role. Montoya was created for Batman: The Animated Series, and has gone on to become a staple of the comic books and a huge favourite of many.
Finally, Cassandra Cain – who was at one point known as Batgirl – there’s no names being reported for the role just yet, but it’s instead believed that Cassandra will be portrayed as a 12-year-old in the picture. An Asian actress is being sought for the part, and it could well be that Cain goes by the Orphan moniker in Birds of Prey.
At present, it looks as if the Cathy Yen-helmed Birds of Prey will start shooting by the time 2018 is out.