The ‘Birds of Prey’ will be facing off against one of Batman’s cruelest villains, Black Mask. Introduced in ‘Batman’ #386 in 1985, he was created by writer Doug Moench and artist Tom Mandrake. The first Black Mask’s real name was Roman Sionis and the character has been reinvented numerous times, so there’s no telling what version ‘Birds of Prey’ will use. Most recently, a new version, Dr. Jeremiah Arkham, was introduced. In most versions, Black Mask is obsessed with masks. He has been a failed businessman as well as a lethal crime boss. He has also been depicted as having a split personality.
This will be the first time Black Mask will appear in a movie, but a version of him appeared in the first two seasons of ‘Gotham’. That version of Black Mask ran an office-based fight club, where he forced his employees to fight to the death using just their hands and office supplies. Due to his violent nature, Black Mask hasn’t been used very much in other media, but he has popped up in some animated series and movies.
It appears that ‘Birds of Prey’ will focus on Margot Robbie‘s Harley Quinn, fresh from a breakup with The Joker. She will join forces with Black Canary, The Huntress and Gotham City Police forensics expert Renee Montoya to safeguard a young girl, Cassandra Cain from a crime boss… who we now know to be Black Mask.
Christina Hodson penned the screenplay for this movie and Cathy Yan will direct. Robbie will serve as a producer and allegedly, the movie will carry an R-rating.
Reportedly, ‘Baywatch’ star Alexandra Daddario is being looked at to play The Huntress, while ‘Killing Eve”s Jodie Comer, ‘Green Lantern”s Blake Lively and ‘Mission: Impossible – Fallout’’s Vanessa Kirby are being considered for Black Canary.
‘Birds of Prey’ does not yet have a release date, but things seem to be coming together rather quickly, so expect production to begin next year, if not sooner.
How do you feel about Black Mask as the next DC cinematic villain?
Source: The Wrap
