The Birds of Prey are ready to take flight.
Deadline is reporting that Warner Bros. has decided on who will play DC Comics superheroes Black Canary and Huntress in the upcoming film adaptation of Birds of Prey, joining Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn. The film will be directed by Cathy Yan
Jurnee Smollett-Bell, 31, will play Dinah Laurel Lance, better known as Black Canary. Smollett-Bell is probably best known as Nicole Wright on the HBO series True Blood and as Jess Merriweather on the series Friday Night Lights. Her other films include Hands of Stone, Gridiron Gang, Eve's Bayou, and Jack, while her other TV appearances include episodes of Underground, Parenthood, Grey's Anatomy, House, ER, NYPD Blue, Hangin' with Mr. Cooper, and Full House.
Mary Elizabeth Winstead, 33, is playing Helena Bertinelli, a.k.a. The Huntress. Winstead is best known as Ramona Flowers in the movie Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, and as Lucy Gennero-McClane in Live Free or Die Hard and A Good Day to Die Hard. Her other films include 10 Cloverfield Lane, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, The Thing (2011), Death Proof, Sky High, Final Destination 3, and The Ring Two. In addition, her TV appearances include episodes of Fargo, The Returned, Tru Calling, Wolf Lake, and Passions.
According to the article, Winstead was up against Sofia Boutella, Cristin Milioti, and Margaret Qualley for Huntress, while the role of Black Canary was between Smollett-Bell and Gugu Mbatha-Raw.
Created in 1947 by Robert Kanigher and Carmine Infantino, Black Canary first appeared in Flash Comics #86 as Dinah Drake, a florist who operated as a crimefighting vigilante on Earth-2 and eventually joined the Justice Society of America before moving to Earth-1 and joining the Justice League of America. There, she began a relationship with JLA colleague Green Arrow and discovered that she has developed an ultrasonic scream, the "Canary Cry." In 1983's Justice League of America (vol.1) #219, it was revealed that the JLA's Black Canary was actually Dinah Laurel Lance, the daughter of Dinah Drake and her husband Larry Lance. In 1995, Black Canary was recruited by Oracle, the former Batgirl, as an operative for a covert-mission team that became unofficially known as the Birds of Prey.
As for the Huntress, she was created in 1977 by Paul Levitz and Joe Staton, first appearing in DC Super-Stars #17 as Helena Wayne, the daughter of the Earth-2 Batman and Catwoman. A criminal named Silky Cernak blackmailed his old boss Selina Kyle into resuming action once again as Catwoman, an act which eventually led to her death. Helena, vowing to bring Cernak to justice, created a costume for herself, fashioned some weapons from her parents' equipment (including her eventual trademark, a crossbow), and set out to bring him in. After accomplishing this, Helena decided to continue to fight crime as The Huntress. She soon joined the Justice Society of America and later Infinity, Inc., but was killed in 1986 during the events of Crisis on Infinite Earths. In 1989, Joey Cavalieri and Joe Staton revamped the character in The Huntress (vol.1) #1 as Helena Bertinelli, who was born into one of Gotham City's most prominent Mafia families. Her parents, Guido and Carmela, sent her to a boarding school and assign a bodyguard for her protection where she learned all forms of combat. After witnessing the mob-ordered murder of her parents at the age of 19, she vowed to put an end to the Mafia as the Huntress. In 2003, writer Gail Simone added Huntress to the Birds of Prey, after being recruited by Oracle to rescue the critically injured Black Canary.
This will be the second time the Birds of Prey will appear in live action, after the short-lived Birds of Prey television series, which aired on the WB network from 2002-2003 and starred Ashley Scott as Huntress and Rachel Skarsten as Dinah Lance.
Birds of Prey is currently scheduled to arrive in theaters on February 7, 2020.
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