'Birds of Prey (And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn)' Screenwriter Explains Idea Behind Title

Harley Quinn has kept a low profile since stepping out in Suicide Squad, but the heroine won't stay quiet for long. DC Films is slated to begin work on Harley's own spin-off when Birds of Prey gets underway, and the film's writer has just opened up about the project and its impressively long title.

After all, Birds of Prey (And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) isn't a movie title you see everyday.

Recently, Variety spoke with writer Christina Hodson about her work on Birds of Prey, and it was there she revealed how the lengthy title connects to the film's overall theme.

"I kind of think it's all in there. I think it sets the tone a little bit in that it's a little tongue-in-cheek. My hands are so tied. But I do think it speaks for itself a little bit. Emancipation means a lot of different things to a lot of different people, and we're going to be exploring that in different ways," Hodson explained.

Continuing, the writer went on to talk about the reception the title received. When Margot Robbie confirmed the title was legit, social media went haywire with reactions, but Hodson admits she avoided all of that fallout.

"[The reaction was] super mixed, but honestly I don't have any social media, so I see very little of this stuff. Some people love it, some people think we're nuts. People will just have to wait and see," she admitted.

"I think it's always hard when you're doing something bold like that to do it without any context. There's no marketing yet, we haven't even started shooting. But all things will start to make sense as we get closer and closer to [premiere date] Feb. 7, 2020."

With the film still in development, audiences will have to wait awhile to see how Birds of Prey will shape itself around its rather unique title. Still, plenty of fans are ready to defend the subtitle against haters, and even Harley Quinn's co-creator Paul Dini is willing to square up. Taking to Instagram, the creator commented on the title reveal last year, and Dini admitted he was all for the quirky blurb.

"I love the new movie title because I often have Harley scribble nonsense and wacky thoughts all over things, like her therapist's pad, or my introduction to the Sirens book," he explained. "So this subtitle reads as classic Quinnsanity to me. One more thing to be thankful about this week."

What do you think about this title so far? Let me know in the comments or hit me up on Twitter @MeganPetersCB to talk all things comics and anime!

Birds of Prey will debut on February 7, 2020. Other upcoming DC films include Shazam on April 5, 2019, Joker on October 10, 2019, and Wonder Woman 1984 on June 5, 2020.