Harley Quinn will have some new playmates in the form of Mary Elizabeth Winstead and Jurnee Smollett-Bell. After an extensive casting process, these two have been cast as The Huntress and Black Canary for the upcoming ‘Birds of Prey’ movie, which will also feature Margot Robbie, reprising her role as Harley Quinn from ‘Suicide Squad’. Robbie is also serving as producer of this picture. Cathy Yan is directing, with a script by Christina Hodson, who is also penning the screenplay for Warner Brothers’ ‘Batgirl’ movie.
According to reports, Black Canary and Huntress will team up with Harley Quinn and Gotham City police detective Renee Montoya to protect a young girl, Cassandra Cain, from sadistic crime boss Black Mask.
Winstead will portray The Huntress, a character that has been reinvented numerous times in the comics. The original version was the daughter of the Golden Age Batman and Catwoman, but she was later reinvented as the daughter of a mafioso. She is often depicted as a loose cannon among the superhero set, who has no problem killing her prey. Her weapon of choice is the crossbow.
Winstead starred in the superhero-themed Disney movie ‘Sky High’ and the comic book-based ‘Scott Pilgrim vs. the World’. She has also appeared in the ‘Death Proof’ segment of ‘Grindhouse’, ‘Live Free or Die Hard’ and its follow-up ‘A Good Day to Die Hard’, ‘The Thing’, ‘Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter’, and ’10 Cloverfield Lane’. She also acted in the most recent installment of FX’s ‘Fargo’ and recently wrapped the Will Smith sci-fi action flick ‘Gemini Man’.
Winstead appears to have beat out Sofia Boutella, Cristin Milioto, and Margaret Qualley, who were previously reported to have been considered for the role of The Huntress.
Smollett-Bell will portray Black Canary, a character whose history stretches back to 1947. Black Canary has been a member of the Justice Society of America and the Justice League of America. She is best known for her acrobatic and martial arts prowess and her super sonic “Canary Cry” which can shatter solid rock. Her real name is Dinah Lance and she is most often depicted as the love interest of Green Arrow.
Smollett-Bell will star in the upcoming HBO series ‘Lovecraft Country’, which will be produced by Jordan Peele. She has previously starred on ‘Friday Night Lights’, ‘The Defenders’, ‘Parenthood’ and ‘True Blood’. She also voices Chrysta on the cartoon ‘Sofia the First’.
Reportedly, Warner Bros. also considered Gugu Mbatha-Raw (‘A Wrinkle in Time’) for this role.
Warner Bros. recently announced that this picture will open in theaters on February 7, 2020.
What do you think of these castings?
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
