Now that Mary Elizabeth Winstead (Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World, Fargo) has been cast in Huntress in the female-centric Birds of Prey film, the actor opened up to The Wrap about her portrayal of the comic book character.
“I’ll be learning how to shoot a bow and arrow — which is new for me,” she said. “It’s really exciting, and even the process of going through getting the role and everything was a very different experience than I’ve typically been through. Being with the other actresses and a female director and just the whole energy behind this is so unique, so I’m really happy about that.”
“I can’t say that I was a huge comic book reader, but when I met with Cathy Yan, who’s directing the film, and learned kind of the back story of the character, I was really interested. It’s a really strong, kind of emotional place to start from for a superhero character.”
The Birds of Prey project was initially announced ahead of the release of Suicide Squad in summer 2016, with Warner Bros. developing the film with Robbie’s Harley Quinn appearing alongisde a number of female DC characters. In addition to Winstead’s casting, it was announced that Jurnee Smollett-Bell will take on the role of Black Canary for the film. The script was penned by Christina Hodson (Bumblebee), who was recently announced to take over scripting duties on DC’s Batgirl solo movie after Joss Whedon’s departure.
Robbie herself was the springboard for the project, having fallen for the pantheon of DC’s female characters in her extensive research for the role of Harley Quinn. The Birds of Prey project will now apparently take priority as the next film to feature the popular Quinn character, with production expected to begin in early 2019. A Suicide Squad sequel to be directed by Gavin O’Connor is also in active development, but Glenn Ficarra and John Requa’s Harley Quinn Vs The Joker romance movie and David Ayer’s Gotham City Sirens now appear to be on the backburner.
The Birds of Prey are a mostly female superhero team whose ranks in the DC source material has included Oracle/Batgirl, Black Canary, Huntress, Catwoman, Hawkgirl, Power Girl, Poison Ivy, Vixen, and Katana (Karen Fukuhara), who appeared opposite Harley in Suicide Squad. A short-lived live action TV series titled Birds of Prey aired on The WB from 2002-to-2003 for 13 episodes, and starred Ashley Scott as Huntress, Dina Meyer as Barbara Gordon/Oracle, Ian Abercrombie as Alfred Pennyworth and Mia Sara as Harley Quinn.
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