Warner Bros. hasn’t officially greenlit a sequel to Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn), but a new rumor suggests the second installment may replace Harley Quinn with Batgirl, another leading lady from the DC Universe. Margot Robbie has portrayed Harley Quinn in WB’s DC Extended Universe, first appearing in 2016’s Suicide Squad, followed by 2020’s Birds of Prey and this year’s The Suicide Squad. But would WB develop a sequel to Birds of Prey without the highly popular Harley Quinn?
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According to That Hashtag Show, Birds of Prey 2 has been greenlit without Robbie’s Harley Quinn. Instead, the sequel would introduce Batgirl, who has played a vital role on the Birds of Prey in the comics. An outline is reportedly in the works, though the project hasn’t reached the script stage just yet. Another member of the Birds of Prey cast expected to return is Jurnee Smollett as Black Canary. As for Huntress and Renee Montoya, the site speculates that Mary Elizabeth Winstead and Rosie Perez could return to their respective roles.
The rumored outline doesn’t list who would be portraying Batgirl in the Birds of Prey sequel. However, with Leslie Grace set to take on the role in an original HBO Max movie, some would conclude she is the likely candidate to also pop up on the big screen. Coincidentally, Jurnee Smollett’s Black Canary is also reportedly receiving an HBO Max movie, which would continue the synchrony between Warner Bros. Pictures and the streaming service.
Leslie Grace shared her excitement after learning she landed the role of Barbara Gordon/Batgirl for the HBO Max movie.
“It was an incredible moment,” Grace said. “When I mean incredible, I mean the textbook definition of, I could not believe it. My brain actually broke when I got the news. The directors actually called me, and the producers were on the line. They called me under the pretense, or had me hop on a Zoom link under the pretense that I was doing a final test — that this was just another step in the process. It was the middle of the day, and I was looking crazy, and they were like, ‘Get on the phone really fast; this could be a final test or some news or something.’ So I hop on, and I only see our two directors, Adil [El Arbi] and Bilall [Fallah], who are so sweet. They were like, ‘Yeah, we just want to do this final test,’ but at the bottom I can see that there are eight participants, and it’s recording, and I’m like, ‘Alright, I don’t know what this is.’ And then they broke it to me like, ‘We just want you to read this text; we’re going to send it to your email.’ And I open it and it says, ‘I’m Batgirl, love Adil,’ and my brain broke.”
Harley Quinn has been linked to several DC projects that have yet to come to fruition. For instance, there were talks of a Joker and Harley Quinn movie that would spinoff from Suicide Squad, but those reports died down. There was also the long-gestating Gotham City Sirens film, which would have reunited Harley Quinn with her best friend/lover Poison Ivy and Catwoman. However, that film was reported to be replaced by Birds of Prey.
If you’re interested in seeing a Birds of Prey movie with Batgirl instead of Harley Quinn, then make sure to sound off in the comments section below.
