What Batman Villain Could Make Their Big-Screen Debut in ‘Birds of Prey’?

The DC Extended Universe is set to evolve in some pretty interesting ways over the next few years, and it sounds like the debut of a brand-new villain in the upcoming Birds of Prey film could be a part of that.

Earlier this month, the character roster for the film was announced, with Black Canary, Huntress, Cassandra Cain, and Renee Montoya joining Harley Quinn. In the same report, it was revealed that the film would include “a Batman villain who has yet to be featured on the big screen,” presumably as the film’s Big Bad.

Considering how profound of a rogues gallery Batman has acquired over the years, this comment made fans raise their eyebrows a little bit. For starters, the notion that Birds of Prey won’t retread the same ground as the various big-screen Batman movies definitely feels like a positive, as well as the possibility of introducing a new pocket of the DC Comics world to audiences.

So with that in mind… what villain could that be? We’ve decided to come up with a few possibilities, based off of the pool of characters who haven’t appeared in a prominent Batman film. (We’re also counting The LEGO Batman Movie in that category, which rules out some more colorful guesses like The Calculator and Kite Man.) So without further ado, read on to find out which villains we’d love to see make their big-screen debut in Birds of Prey.

Black Mask

(Photo: DC Comics)

Roman Sionis/Black Mask might not be the most notable DC Comics villain, but there are some pretty strong pieces of evidence as to why he could be on this list. 

The character first debuted in the comics in 1985, as the son of rich socialites who ultimately becomes a rather creepy looking drug kingpin. In the comics, Sionis has a pretty strong bone to pick with Bruce Wayne, attempting to take down his company and ultimately crossing paths with Batman here and there.

Black Mask has appeared quite a bit in animation and television (including, oddly enough, being played by Suicide Squad 2 co-writer Todd Stashwick in Gotham), but has yet to appear on the big screen. And seeing as the character was initially believed to appear in David Ayer’s Gotham City Sirens, and an Easter egg to him can be seen in Justice League, it certainly still feels like a possibility.

Hush

Hey, have you heard? Some people really want to see Hush make his way to the big screen.

Tommy Elliot debuted in the comics in 2003, as a childhood friend of Bruce Wayne’s who attempts to kill his parents in a car accident. To Tommy’s dismay, his mother is saved by Thomas Wayne, something that makes him resent Bruce for “getting everything he wanted.” As an adult, Tommy adopts the persona of Hush, which he uses to manipulate various other DC villains (and even some heroes) into terrorizing Batman.

Sure, Hush definitely should factor into some sort of live-action Batman movie. But as the Hush comic storyline is currently being adapted into an animated film, we can’t help but wonder how interesting it would be to see the Birds of Prey take on Hush. (Especially since both Harley Quinn and Huntress have factored into his antics in the past.)

Firefly

Granted, multiple incarnations of Firefly have made their way into live-action before, most recently appearing on Arrow and Gotham. But Firefly has yet to be featured in a major DC film — and is just a unique-enough villain for the world of Birds of Prey.

In the comics, there are two separate iterations of Firefly — Garfield Lynns, a special effects expert who is becomes a villain after being foiled by Batman and Robin, and Ted Carson, an heir to a gold mine who is forced to resort to a life of crime. The character is most recently depicted with some sort of battlesuit, a flamethrower, and various other weapons.

Firefly certainly has enough style and backstory to work on a cinematic scale, while also being obscure enough to not coincide with DC’s other Gotham-set films. And hey, they could absolutely follow Gotham‘s lead and genderbend the character.

Ventriloquist

Another legacy character whose different iterations could be just distinct enough to work in Birds of Prey is Ventriloquist.

The Arnold Wesker iteration of the villain first debuted in 1988, as a gangster who enacts his crimes with a ventriloquist dummy nicknamed Scarface. But since 2007, two female iterations of the character have made an appearance: Peyton Riley and Shauna Belzer.

On some level, it would be pretty easy to see either female version of Ventriloquist working within Birds of Prey. Peyton has a sort of Harley Quinn-esque nature to her, and even went toe-to-toe with her on a few occasions. And Shauna has a sort of history with Batgirl, as well as a tragic storyline that could play out well onscreen. (Plus, she could set the groundwork for some sort of Sinister Six spinoff.)

Mad Hatter

As with Firefly, Mad Hatter has made it into live-action before, in a pretty lengthy arc on Gotham. But even then, the character could be just weird and unsettling enough to be adapted onto the big screen.

Jervis Tetch is a scientist with various mind-controlling abilities, whose aesthetic and persona draws inspiration from Alice in Wonderland‘s “Mad Hatter”. While his M.O. and technology have varied throughout the years, Mad Hatter has never ceased to be pretty darn creepy, and his general conceit could certainly be easy enough for general audiences to follow. (Plus, he’s had some run-ins with Barbara Gordon in the past.)

Depending on how Mad Hatter’s arc could play out on Birds of Prey, his skills could provide an interesting story about personal agency and control, something that certainly would work in such a feminist film.

Onomatopoeia

All right, this one is more in the “personal wish list” category, but there’s a way that it could work.

Created by Kevin Smith and Phil Hester in 2002, Onomatopoeia technically debuted as a Green Arrow villain, a mysterious serial killer who targets non-superpowered heroes. He gets his code name from the fact that he “imitates” the noises around him. After being defeated by Green Arrow and Black Canary, Onomatopoeia ends up crossing paths with Batman, even impersonating another superhero as a way to earn Batman’s trust.

Seeing as almost all of this roster of the Birds of Prey don’t actually have superpowers, it would be a pretty interesting twist to have Onomatopoeia involved in some way. Not only would it add a creepy and visually-interesting villain to the comic book movie world, but it would give the team a unique threat to go up against. (And maybe it would make up for the villain never really making its way to Arrow.)

Lady Shiva

Considering the roster of characters that are expected to be in Birds of Prey, Lady Shiva definitely seems like one of the strongest guesses for the film’s potential villain.

Shiva has a pretty storied DC Comics history, as an assassin who crosses paths with the Batfamily and the Birds of Prey in various different ways. In one of these instances, Shiva challenges the newest incarnation of Batgirl to the death, not realizing that it’s actually her daughter, Cassandra Cain. Shiva eventually becomes an adversary of the Birds of Prey, teaming up with the group under various circumstances.

Seeing as Cassandra is expected to debut in Birds of Prey, and the film is going above and beyond in terms of female representation, it certainly feels possible that Shiva could end up being the Big Bad.

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Who would you like to see be the villain of Birds of Prey? Let us know what you think in the comments below.