Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) delivers the next chapter of the DCEU, which may come as a surprise to those who heard director Cathy Yan say that the movie “exists in a parallel timeline.” Now that we’ve seen the movie, it seems as though Yan was more speaking metaphorically about how that was her mindset going into the film — she wanted it to stand on its own rather than be reliant on other films. But now that we know Birds of Prey is indeed a part of the shared DC movie tapestry, here’s a rundown on how Birds of Prey links to DC’s other movies with a handful of cool Easter eggs and how Harley’s antics impact the Gotham City landscape and the larger DC movie universe.
Note: just for clarification, the DC movie universe aka the DCEU includes Man of Steel, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Suicide Squad, Justice League, Aquaman, Wonder Woman, Shazam!, and now Birds of Prey, whereas Joaquin Phoenix’s Joker film stands by itself unconnected to these other films.
Warning: full spoilers for Birds of Prey ahead!
You can view a visual version of this feature by flipping through the slideshow below or keep scrolling to read it as an article.
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The Joker Is MIA
Birds of Prey picks up with Harley trying to get over being dumped by her ex, the Joker. We see Harley getting tossed out by one of the Joker’s goons, and you’ll notice that the setting isn’t in Gotham City. In Suicide Squad, we saw the Joker operating out of a lavish mansion, but now he appears to be residing a cabin out in a rural area, which implies that the Joker isn’t in Gotham and is likely laying low, probably to avoid getting caught by Batman.
The Joker’s absence in Gotham has a profound effect on Harley and the city at large. Harley essentially broadcasts her breakup with Joker when she destroys Ace Chemicals, the place where she was reborn as Harley Quinn and cemented her perverse bond with her Puddin’. So without the Joker’s protection, it’s open season on Harley Quinn, meaning everyone with a grudge against her — and it turns out that’s an awful lot of people — are emboldened to seek her out and attack her in a bid for revenge, all because they know that the Joker isn’t around to retaliate. Black Mask takes this as an opportunity to finally claim Harley as his own and punish her for the long, long list of things she’s done to anger and otherwise annoy him.
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The Rise of Black Mask
While Black Mask trying to get his gloved hands on Harley is at the forefront of the film, we couldn’t help but notice that there also seems to be a power vacuum in Gotham City thanks to the Joker not being around, and Roman Sionis is trying to take advantage of it. We see Black Mask making moves to expand his criminal operations as he makes offers to fellow crime lords… and has them executed by Mr. Zsas when they don’t play along.
Birds of Prey
Of course, the Birds of Prey assemble to stop Black Mask and bring him to a rather, er, explosive end. Members Renee Montoya, Huntress, and Black Canary decide to stay together to keep cleaning up Gotham. Now, in addition to the Justice League and the Shazam Family, the DC movie universe has another superhero team protecting innocents and beating up baddies.
It’s also worth pointing out that during Renee’s emotional talk with Black Canary aka Dinah Laurel Lance, we learned that Canary’s mother was a super-powered hero who protected Gotham City before her untimely demise. In the comics, the character of Black Canary has gone through many retcons over the years, but the movie seems to be implying that Dinah Laurel Lance’s mother is none other than Dinah Drake, who eventually marries detective Larry Lance and has a child that carries on her metahuman gene. At one point Drake was a member of the Justice Society of America, a superhero team that operated a generation before the Justice League, and we know that the JSA will be featured in Dwayne Johnson’s Black Adam movie, so it could be possible that we meet Dinah’s mom in that movie.
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Gotham City Sirens?
Of course, when a team of heroes appears, it’s inevitable that a team of villains will form to oppose them. The most obvious choice to fight the Birds of Prey is none other than the Gotham City Sirens. In the comics, they’re a group of female characters from Batman’s rogues gallery — Harley Quinn, Catwoman, and Poison Ivy — who dish out their own twisted brand of justice across Cotham City.
In fact, after Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn proved to be the breakout character from Suicide Squad, Warner Bros. got to work on developing four potential followup movies for her. One of those ideas was Gotham City Sirens, which we last heard had David Ayer tentatively attached to direct, but the film was put on hold when Warners decided to move ahead with Birds of Prey. Birds of Prey got the green light in large part due to Robbie championing it because she wanted to introduce the lesser-known Birds of Prey characters to the masses, knowing that many fans are already familiar with the popular Poison Ivy and Catwoman.
But now that the Birds of Prey have been established on the big screen, it’s possible that a potential sequel could introduce Harley’s other comic book team. We can just imagine the sort of chaos that would unfold if Harley was a member of both teams as they’re fighting each other.
The plant-controlling Poison Ivy is a longtime Batman villain who has a close, sometimes-romantic relationship with Harley Quinn. The jewel thief known as Catwoman, on the other hand, is set to appear in Matt Reeves’ upcoming film The Batman, with Selina Kyle being played by Zoe Kravitz. It’s currently unclear whether The Batman will be connected to the DC movie universe or if it’ll be standalone like Joker (one rumor says The Batman will be set in the past during the ‘90s), but if it does end up connecting, then Kravitz could reprise the role to join the Gotham City Sirens.
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Harley Quinn Will Rejoin the Suicide Squad
That’s a lot of speculation, but here’s what we do know about Harley Quinn’s next cinematic appearance. It’ll be in James Gunn’s upcoming sequel-or-is-it-a-reboot, The Suicide Squad (release date August 6, 2021), which was teased in Birds of Prey. When Harley passes by a wanted poster in the Gotham City police station, she says, “I know that guy!” And lo and behold, it features Jai Courtney’s Captain Boomerang, who was one of Harley’s teammates on Task Force X.
Given that Birds of Prey ends with Harley hightailing it with her new sidekick Cassandra Cain, that means “Cass” could also make an appearance in the film. Cass was an assassin in the comics before she went on to become Batgirl, so maybe the Squad will be where the movie version picks up those skills.
But this also means some bad news for Harley: for her to be once again enlisted in Task Force X, she has to be incarcerated by Amanda Waller, so she’s probably going to get caught again between the events of Birds of Prey and The Suicide Squad. Sorry, Harley!
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Birds of Prey may be intimately focused on Harley’s quest for emancipation, but it also shook up the status quo of the DCEU quite a bit by eliminating a major crime lord, creating a new superhero team, and leaving the door open for a new DC property to take shape on the big screen.
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Joshua is Senior Features Editor at IGN. If Pokemon, Green Lantern, or Game of Thrones are frequently used words in your vocabulary, you’ll want to follow him on Twitter @JoshuaYehl and IGN.
Source: IGN.com How Birds of Brey Connects to the DC Universe Movies