DC’s Birds of Prey movie may have just found its secret weapon.
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Ella Jay Basco is reportedly in negotiations to play Cassandra Cain in the upcoming big screen venture, according to new reporting from Variety.
In the comics, Cassandra is the daughter of David Cain and Lady Shiva, who was raised from an early age to be a mute, highly-trained assassin. Eventually, she takes on the mantle of Batgirl while living with Barbara, before she passed the mantle on Stephanie Brown. Cassandra then operates under the mantle of Black Bat, before eventually settling into the superhero name of Orphan.
This would be the first major role for Basco, who has previously appeared on shows like Grey’s Anatomy, Veep, and Superior Donuts.
Fans were pretty excited to learn that Cassandra would play a role in the film, and have been eager to see exactly who would play her. Andi Mack star Peyton Elizabeth Lee was briefly rumored for the part at one point.
Birds of Prey will see Cassandra joining up with Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie), as well as Black Canary (Jurnee Smollett-Bell), Huntress (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), and Renee Montoya (Rosie Perez) to take down the DC Comics villain Black Mask (Ewan McGregor). Fans have hoped that the cast will contain diverse representation, something Robbie herself has campaigned for.
“Yep, yes exactly, real life isn’t so one specific images,” said Robbie. “We’ve got to reflect that onscreen.”
“I pitched the idea of an R-rated girl gang film including Harley, because I was like, ‘Harley needs friends.’ Harley loves interacting with people, so don’t ever make her do a standalone film,” Robbie said in a previous interview. “She’s got to be with other people, it should be a girl gang. I wasn’t seeing enough girl gangs on screen, especially in the action space. So that was always a big part of it.”
Birds of Prey will be directed by Cathy Yan, and produced by Robbie alongside Kroll & Co Entertainment’s Sue Kroll and Clubhouse Pictures’ Bryan Unkeless. A version of the script was penned by Bumblebee‘s Christina Hodson.
What do you think of the casting for Cassandra Cain in Birds of Prey? Let us know what you think in the comments below.
Upcoming DC Extended Universe films include Aquaman on December 21st, Shazam on April 5, 2019, and Wonder Woman 2 on November 1, 2019.
