The world just got a first look at DC and Warner Bros.’ upcoming Birds of Prey movie, but there are already rumors of some major things in the works for the franchise. A new report about the future of the Batman franchise happened to include a little footnote about Birds of Prey that has some major implications. Word is, Warner Bros. is planning to have Birds of Prey and the Gotham City Sirens movies crossover in a major event film!
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Here’s what The Hollywood Reporter reports in its breakdown of which Batman villains could soon be making a movie appearance:
“… And with Birds of Prey rumored to lead to a trilogy comprised of Gotham City Sirens and Birds vs. Sirens features, Catwoman certainly won’t be kept off screen for long.”
Gotham City Sirens has been one of DC and Warner Bros. many, many, many, projects supposedly in development for years now. Suicide Squad director David Ayer was attached to the project, and was still claiming it was in the plans in late 2017. More recently we also heard that Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn would be featured in a trilogy of upcoming DC movies, which tracks with these added rumored details about how that trilogy could be shaped.
The Birds of Prey comics follow a group of Gotham City female (anti-)heroes that includes Batgirl, Huntress, and Black Canary. Gotham City Sirens is conversely made up of female villains, including the aforementioned Catwoman, and Poison Ivy. The obviously through-line here is Harley Quinn, who will be flirting with both sides of the law, likely ultimately having to make some kind of drastic choice about who she is in this equation.
It seems clear in this framework that Harley will have to work out her relationship with Jared Leto’s Joker at some point — the Birds of Prey movie is subtitled “And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn” after all. Harley “getting free” of Joker seems like it will be a major thematic subtext to this trilogy; the only real question is, how much actual presence will Joker have in the three-part story? Could the final crossover film bring the ladies of both the Birds of Prey and Gotham City Sirens up against a threat like Joker?
Hanging over all of this is bombshell confirmation that Ben Affleck is done as Batman, and we’ll be getting a new Batman in Matt Reeves’ upcoming reboot. Harley’s trilogy could occupy a lot space in the Batman franchise until The Batman solo film arrives in 2021.
The DC Movie Universe continues with Aquaman in theaters now. Shazam in theaters on April 5th, Joker in theaters on October 4th, Birds of Prey in theaters on February 7th, 2020, Wonder Woman 1984 in theaters on June 5th, 2020, and The Batman in theaters on June 25th, 2021.
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