Birds of Prey Writer Says DC Is in Control of How Movies Interact With One Another

When it comes to crafting a highly anticipated movie, a lot of creatives want to ensure the best product possible, with Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) writer Christina Hodson confirming that the decisions ultimately fall to DC Comics when it comes to connecting films to one another. As compared to Marvel Studios, which has a group of creatives who helps shape the overall trajectory of the entire franchise, Hodson detailed that, while she might not have personally collaborated with the filmmakers responsible for other DCEU films, there are executives ensuring the overall path of the shared universe.

"Honestly, a lot of it is DC itself [being] the ones overseeing [the franchise]," Hodson revealed to ComicBook.com at a press event. "Obviously, there's been a change in leadership there. [President of DC Films] Walter Hamada really knows what he's doing. He's so good at his job. And he has a real love for these characters and for this material, so it's looking to him more than anything. And obviously, with a lot of us, we've gotten to know each other, especially the writers, we all have friends now, which is lovely. We read each other's stuff and help each other. But yeah, mostly it's going through Walter and DC."

When the DCEU launched with Man of Steel, fans had already seen a number of Marvel Cinematic Universe films, with the DC Comics franchise attempting to catch up to their peers quite quickly. Sadly, films like Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Suicide Squad, and Justice League all earned poor reviews, with many critics noting that the ways in which these films attempted to connect to one another were some of their stumbling blocks.

Hodson also pointed out that, while devout Harley Quinn fans will likely catch references to her backstory, you don't need to have seen every other DC Comics film to enjoy the new adventure.

"I don't want to spoil too much," Hodson confirmed. "I would say this is definitely a standalone movie. We always wanted it to be a story that feels like its own thing, its own contained story that if you're a fan and you've seen some of the movies before, if you've already met Harley Quinn, but also if you're brand-new to this universe, you can also come in and feel perfectly at home here. As a fan myself, I would like to hopefully list it with some funny threads that people are gonna like. But yeah, we'll have to wait and see"

Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) lands in theaters on February 7th.

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