Welcome to I Am Your Target Demographic.
Today we are talking about the Birds of Prey.
Now this is a movie that's coming out but there is a history with the Birds of Prey
in the comic books, DC Comics.
So I'm going to talk about these characters, kind of their comic book history a little
bit, and what might happen in the movie, or what these characters mean in the movie.
So, this is meant for people who don't really know much about these characters, this is
not a deep dive, this is a pretty superficial look in preparation for the Birds of Prey movie.
So we're going to start by talking about the lead: Harley Quinn.
Harley is a former psychiatrist working at Gotham City’s Arkham Asylum.
Eventually she fell in love with the Joker, or at least some sort of affection or obsession.
His behavior towards her was incredibly abusive and one-sided, often choosing to save himself over her.
She eventually breaks free of his grasp and lives life on her own, often working with
other heroines such as Catwoman and Poison Ivy.
Harley Quinn doesn’t have any superhero abilities but is often shown to be incredibly
acrobatic and often incredibly intelligent.
In the film, she is played by Margot Robbie.
Now the rest of these characters, we've never seen before.
Harley Quinn showed up in Suicide Squad, I don't think you really need to know much about
Suicide Squad to understand this movie.
So the rest of these characters, we're really going to talk more about the comic books and
where they came from.
Let's start by talking about the Black Canary: Dinah Lance.
Black Canary is a metahuman in the DC universe with the ability to emit a scream that can
shatter thing like glass, or even metal, even able to focus it to mimic sounds and generate
nearly any sound she wants.
She was one of the founding members of the Justice League and eventually co-formed the
group Birds of Prey.
Interestingly, Harley Quinn has never really been a member of the Birds of Prey, she might
have shown up in some of their books, but she's never been a member.
The other co-founder Oracle doesn’t seem to be present in this movie.
In this film, Dinah is played by Jurnee Smollett-Bell.
Up next, we've got the Huntress: Helena Bertinelli.
A vigilante in Gotham City, without any super abilities, using a crossbow to fight criminals and mobsters.
Unlike other heroes, she doesn’t have a concern with killing, so this sort of aggression
puts her at odds with other heroes in the city that had a problem with her ways.
In this film, she is played by Mary Elizabeth Winstead.
Next up on the Birds of Prey roster is Renee Montoya.
An officer in Gotham PD and eventual detective, Montoya has made enemies with many of Gotham’s
worst criminals and she's often pulled in to cases that involved villains such as Joker and the Riddler.
She was eventually let go from Gotham PD but was recruited and trained by the independent
detective and vigilante known as the Question, whom she eventually replaced in that role.
As the Question, she uses a prototype mask which hides her face and allows her to investigate
and fight crime without her identity being known.
She was recruited into the Birds of Prey but always felt like a bit of an outsider.
In the film, she is played by Rosie Perez.
Another interesting tidbit, both Renee Montoya and Harley Quinn were created originally for
the Batman: The Animated Series, that's where they first appear and then they were brought
in to the comic books.
Up next we've got Cassandra Cain.
Our last heroine for this film, her character seems to differ greatly between the movie
and the comics, from what we can tell.
In the comics, Cassandra was raised by two prominent assassins and was actually raised
without learning to speak, to focus on her physicality.
This means when she eventually did encounter the outside world, she had to learn this skill.
She is a deadly killer, but eventually ran away from her family once she started to understand
death and its consequences.
She took on the mantle of Batgirl, before eventually becoming the Black Bat, trained
by Batman himself.
In the films, she is shown talking and doesn’t seem to be especially deadly, played by relative
newcomer Ella Jay Basco.
Now that rounded out of our cast of heroes, if I can use that term, and now I wanna talk
for a second about the villain of the movie, who is a DC Comics mainstay: the Black Mask.
Criminal overlord Roman Sionis uses a black mask to hide his identity, since he was a
wealthy Gotham businessman, maybe a little bit embarrassed because he made some bad decisions,
so he wears this mask to remain hidden.
Eventually, he was caught in a fire that burned the skull imprint onto his face and gave him
this appearance for real.
He has no super powers but has an obsession with power and reputation, often resorting
to hiring Gotham’s worst to work for him and building up his prestige.
In the film, he is played by Ewan McGregor.
So that is who you can expect to see in the Birds of Prey.
It's coming to theaters soon, hopefully you check it out and hopefully you found this video interesting.
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