The supporting cast of DC’s Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) may be beginning to take shape.
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According to a new update to the film’s IMDb page, Charlene Amoia is poised to play Maria Bertinelli, the mother of Helena Bertinelli/Huntress (Mary Elizabeth Winstead). Amoia is known for her roles in How I Met Your Mother, Shameless, and American Reunion.
Of course, this update is probably best taken with a grain of salt, as IMDb is by no means an official confirmation that Amoia is tied to the film. That being said, it wouldn’t be the first time that a supporting cast member update for the DC Extended Universe was revealed via the website, as the same thing essentially happened with Cyborg’s mother in Justice League.
Depending on what role Maria Bertinelli would end up playing in the film, it might make sense that this Birds of Prey casting update flew a bit under the radar. In the comics, Maria largely plays a tragic role in things, as she and her husband are murdered by rival gangsters when Helena is very young, something that ultimately sets her on the path to become Huntress. Maria’s story was only recently expanded on in Julie and Shawna Benson’s recent Batgirl and the Birds of Prey run, with the revelation that she had escaped the attack and become a mob boss in the present day.
It sounds like the Birds of Prey movie might put a bit of a twist on that origin, with Roman Sionis/Black Mask (Ewan McGregor) rumored to be the one who really killed Helena’s family. With that in mind, it certainly doesn’t seem out of the question that Amoia could appear as Maria, particularly in some sort of flashback sequence chronicling the Bertinelli family’s murders.
Birds of Prey will star Winstead as Huntress, McGregor as Black Mask, Jurnee Smollett-Bell as Black Canary, Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn, 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. With the film set to begin production sometime next month, hopefully more casting updates will come to light.
Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) will debut in theaters 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.
