A new Birds of Prey movie rumor indicates Warner Bros. has certain actresses in mind to play Black Canary and Huntress in the female team-up. The studio is currently in the middle of a more-than-a-year hiatus between the release of 2017’s Justice League and Aquaman later this year. But that hasn’t stopped Warner Bros. from firming up plans for the future of their DC movie universe. The studio announced an unconnected Joker movie starring Joaquin Phoenix, while in-universe films like Birds of Prey, The Batman, The Flash movie and more continue to move forward.

In terms of Birds of Prey, filming may start in early 2019 according to the latest reports. The all-female team-up featuring Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn has a director attached in Cathy Yan and a script written by Christina Hodson, who also penned the upcoming Transformers spinoff Bumblebee. The next steps Warner Bros. will be looking to take - that is, if they’re satisfied with the current draft of the script - is cast the main characters. According to reports, the Birds of Prey team includes Black Canary, Huntress, Cassandra Cain (who takes on the Batgirl mantle in the comics), and Renee Montoya (a Gotham City police detective). Now, we may have an idea of who Warner Bros. is looking to cast for two of these characters.

Comic Book Movie reports Warner Bros. is looking at Vanessa Kirby (The Crown, Mission: Impossible - Fallout) and Jodie Comer (Killing Eve, The White Princess) for the role of Dinah Lance aka. Black Canary and Alexandra Daddario (Baywatch, True Detective) for Helena Bertinelli aka. Huntress. CBM further reports that none of the three actresses have entered talks with Warner Bros., though they believe Daddario may enter into official discussions for the role of Huntress soon. Geeks WorldWide further reports that Daddario and Kirby are on Warner Bros’ wish list for Huntress and Black Canary, but reports the third name to be Blake Lively. GWW reports Warner Bros. had no comment on the casting wish list.

Because Birds of Prey is still officially in the development stages, there’s very little confirmed about the movie beyond the writer, director and Robbie’s appearance. Robbie has been a proponent behind the film from the start, serving as a producer. The actress-producer has even said she’s pushing for the Birds of Prey movie cast to be diverse. Based on Robbie’s comments and all the rumors, it does look like Warner Bros. will be casting the movie soon, and if the studio is looking to hire women of color for the main team, it’s possible Kirby, Comer, Lively and Daddario may not be up for these roles after all.

Certainly, the four actresses named in these latest rumors are solid choices - all four are established stars with the talent to hold their own alongside Robbie. However, if Daddario were cast as Huntress and Comer, Lively or Kirby as Black Canary, it would make three of the main leads white women, which would bring gender diversity to the superhero genre, but little racial diversity. If Warner Bros. and Robbie truly are pushing for the cast of Birds of Prey to be more diverse and reflect “real life” as Robbie said, then the studio may want to look at a wider range of actresses for the all-female superhero team.

Of course, all that aside, it’s still unclear if Warner Bros. is ready to begin casting yet. As previously stated, the studio has confirmed very little. Publicly, they’re focused on Aquaman, Shazam!, Wonder Woman 1984 and Joker. Still, as the release of Aquaman draws closer, Warner Bros. may move ahead with whatever project they plan to have follow the Wonder Woman sequel. That may be Birds of Prey, or it may be another DC movie the studio has in the works.

Next: Every DC Movie Supposedly Filming in 2019

Source: CBM, GWW

  • Aquaman Release Date: 2018-12-21 Shazam! Release Date: 2019-04-05 Joker Release Date: 2019-10-04 Wonder Woman 2 Release Date: 2020-12-25