DC PREVIEW

Wonder Woman 1984, Batman 2021 and other fantabulousness.

DIRECTOR CATHY YAN STARRING MARGOT ROBBIE, JURNEE SMOLLETT-BELL, MARY ELIZABETH WINSTEAD, EWAN MCGREGOR ETA 7 FEBRUARY

The full title of this DC spin-off – Birds Of Prey (And The Fantabulous Emancipation Of One Harley Quinn) – gives you a good idea of what to expect tonally. As screenwriter Christina Hodson (Bumblebee) explains, “It wasn’t there right from the start, but the idea of it, the feeling of it, was always there.” Hodson met star/producer Margot Robbie four years ago, before Suicide Squad – in which Robbie debuted as Harley Quinn – had opened, and as the script went through various drafts and iterations, “the word ‘emancipation’ kept ringing true as a North Star,” says Hodson. “That was really what it was about for me. That’s what it was for each of these women.” That extended subtitle was slapped on one draft, and it ended up sticking. “I think it speaks a little bit to what the movie is,” she adds. “It’s tongue in cheek, and cheeky, and has a little bit of attitude.

But it’s also thematically resonant.”

While plot details are still scarce, Birds Of Prey sees Harley’s titular girl-gang team up to protect a young girl threatened by crime lord Roman Sionis (Ewan McGregor), who in comics lore becomes supervillain Black Mask. Harley’s ‘puddin’, the Joker, is seemingly nowhere to be seen, but her new gang includes Black Canary (Jurnee Smollett-Bell), Huntress (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) and Renee Montoya (Rosie Perez).

Hodson describes the film as a “standalone story” rather than a direct continuation from Suicide Squad. “Obviously, yes, it’s a character we have met before, but it’s really its own story, and that’s kind of how I approached it. I just tried to take myself off-leash. I fell in love with this character, and then all of these other new characters. And I just created a brand new story that felt like its own thing, and that doesn’t have to feel like it follows one or the other.”

Expect huge set-pieces, but Hodson assures that all of the action is very character-driven

– “It should have a real intimacy to it.” And as for the tone of the film, “You can expect it to feel like Harley,” grins Hodson. “That is my tone. I definitely channelled my inner Quinn when I wrote it. And you know what Harley’s like. Harley has her light side. She’s fun and fluffy sometimes. But she’ll also punch you in the face and knock out your teeth… My hope is very much this feels like it’s a movie told by Harley.”