'Gotham's Zsasz Gives His Blessing to 'Birds of Prey' Casting

Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) is set to bring a new twist [...]

By Jenna Anderson

Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) is set to bring a new twist on fan-favorite DC villain Victor Zsasz, and it looks like the most recent actor to play that character is pretty on board.

Anthony Carrigan, who played Zsasz on Fox's Gotham, recently responded to the casting of Chris Messina as the character in Birds of Prey. As Carrigan revealed, this announcement happened to come on the very last day he's playing Zsasz on Gotham, and he's "really happy" to see what Messina will do in the role.

For the uninitiated, Zsasz is a serial killer in Gotham, who celebrates each of his kills by making a tally mark on his body. In Birds, Zsasz is expected to be working closely with Roman Sionis/Black Mask (Ewan McGregor), the film's "Big Bad".

Birds of Prey will see Zsasz and Black Mask going up against a slew of DC Comics' female superheroes and supervillains, in what is expected to be an R-rated entry to the DC Extended Universe. Margot Robbie will reprise her role as Harley Quinn, alongside Jurnee Smollett-Bell as Black Canary, Mary Elizabeth Winstead as Huntress, Rosie Perez as Renee Montoya, and Ella Jay Basco as Cassandra Cain. The film will be directed by Cathy Yan, with a script from Bumblebee's Christina Hodson.

"I could not put the script down, it had so much dark humor to it which a lot of my work does, and there are themes of female empowerment which are so strong and relateable." Yan explained in a recent interview. "So I went in with, not with confidence, but at least a sense that I belonged in the room, that somehow magically in terms of timing and luck that this opportunity was open to me and I was definitely going to make the best of it."

"It came out of me," Yan said about her pitch meeting to Warner Bros., "I have never done any of these things and I asked my agents for examples to get a better sense: I put together a pitch deck and also assembled a sizzle reel. But I would say it wasn't like a lot of other sizzle reels which reference other films that remotely feel like your film. I find those to be rather pointless. But I created my own version that thematically and tonally conveyed what you would feel (in my movie)."

What do you think of Carrigan giving Messina his blessing? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below.

Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) will debut on February 7, 2020. Other upcoming DC films include Aquaman on December 21st, Shazam on April 5, 2019, Joker on October 10, 2019, and Wonder Woman 1984 on June 5, 2020.

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