Now that the movie's in theaters, Birds of Prey fans can finally dig into the film's
massive ensemble, twisted set pieces, and inventive action.
With so much going on, it can be easy to miss all the plot developments or know where everyone
stands by the end.
We're here to help.
"We're gonna have to work together."
Birds of Prey's subtitle touts the film as the story of Harley Quinn's "fantabulous emancipation,"
and it is.
Harley starts the film as an emotional wreck prone to binge drinking, crying jags, and
blowing up chemical plants.
That all changes when she gains a chance to earn her freedom from her bad reputation and
bonds with the rest of the Birds of Prey team.
By the end of the film, she's got a new protege in Cassandra Cain, a new probably-not-legal
business and a new reputation as someone who can get things done.
But the grenade-explosion death of Roman Sionis doesn't necessarily mean all of Harley's trouble
is about to go away.
She used to roll with the Joker, after all, and no matter how far she gets from that relationship
there's someone, somewhere, looking to cause her pain for her past sins.
Harley is smart enough to know this, and she'll no doubt be looking over her shoulder for
the next great threat.
When we first meet Cassandra Cain, she's a low-level pickpocket who wanders the streets
of Gotham trying to avoid going back to the crappy apartment where her parents are constantly
fighting.
Over the course of the film, she goes on a massive adventure, becomes the focus of a
citywide scavenger hunt, and finds a new big sister figure in the form of Harley Quinn.
Cassandra's got a whole new life ahead of her as Harley's protege.
What does she do now?
The possibilities seem endless, considering who she's hanging out with, but one path seems
very likely.
Yes, the film version of Cassandra is very different from the comics, but we do know
that comics Cassandra took on the role of Batgirl for a while.
It would take a few years and a little training, but perhaps movie Cassandra could also pull
that off.
Detective Renee Montoya starts the film as a rough-edged, determined, smart Gotham City
cop with a tendency toward alcoholism and deep resentment toward her mostly-male colleagues
for taking promotions she deserved.
By the end, she's not exactly a new woman, but she does seem to have renewed purpose.
The vigilante life will allow her to do the kind of good in Gotham that she never could
with a badge.
Renee becomes a founding member of the Birds of Prey alongside her new friends Helena Bertinelli
and Dinah Lance, cementing her place as a crime fighter outside
the realm of the law.
Her old cop connections will no doubt make her very good at that job, but it's not necessarily
the end of Renee's evolution.
Longtime DC Comics readers know Renee eventually became the new incarnation of masked vigilante
the Question, a transition we could still see on the big screen someday.
Black Canary is something of a mystery.
When we meet her, she's a lounge singer at Black Mask's club, doing whatever she can
to get by.
But then she displays tremendous fighting abilities as well as her supersonic "Canary
Cry," which lets us all know that she's got gifts she's been keeping under wraps.
What the film doesn't tell us is how and why Canary is so gifted, which means her backstory
is ripe for exploration in future films.
With Canary now one of Gotham City's most visible vigilantes, and there's nowhere to
go but up.
In upcoming films, we could certainly see her comic book love interest Green Arrow one
day, though a version of the Canary/Arrow dynamic did just recently play out on the
small screen for eight seasons.
Helena Bertinelli seems like the most straightforward character in the title team, because she seems
to have only one real motivation: Avenge the deaths of her family members by killing everyone
tied to it.
When she finally kills the last person she believes to be involved in the massacre, Victor
Zsasz, Helena has to find something else to live for.
"Psychologically speaking, vengeance rarely brings the catharsis we hope for."
By the end of the film, Helena may not have shed any of the leftover awkwardness from
her single-minded pursuits as the Huntress, but she has gained a broader perspective of
the world.
As Renee Montoya noted, she's fooling herself if she thinks the symptoms of the problem
that killed her family stopped with the last name on her list.
Now, as a member of the Birds of Prey, she has a new outlet for making the world a better
place, and stopping the deaths of other families in the process, using her regained inheritance
to fund the whole operation.
Birds of Prey sets up Roman Sionis, a.k.a. Black Mask, as a true Big Bad worthy of Harley's
fear.
Roman is a truly terrifying, unhinged mob boss who seems to have bought and killed his
way to the top, to the point that by the end of the film, he basically has an army at his
beck and call.
Plus, we know that a lot of what he's done in the past means very few mob leaders are
fit to challenge him, and those that do find themselves without faces.
But by the end of the film, Gotham's most powerful mob boss has been blown to bits on
Founders Pier.
His right-hand man is also dead, and there's suddenly a very prominent power vacuum in
Gotham's underworld.
So, who's going to rise up and fill that void?
There are a lot of candidates who could step up, particularly with the Joker seemingly
out of the picture.
Perhaps it's time for the Penguin to become the big-screen crime lord we've all been waiting
to see.
Much like the Joker, Batman doesn't appear in Birds of Prey, but his presence is felt
nonetheless.
Harley references him as part of her origin story, noting he arrested her after she helped
Joker break out of Arkham Asylum.
He's often either the butt of Harley's jokes or serves as a reminder that Harley still
remembers her encounters with him.
He's also brought up in subtler ways.
For one thing, Harley Quinn's pet hyena is named Bruce, and she's so proud of that name
that she wears it on a chain around her neck.
He's named after billionaire playboy Bruce Wayne...
"I named him Bruce after that hunky Wayne guy."
...so does Harley know that Bruce Wayne is Batman?
Then there's the post-credits audio snippet, in which Harley promises to tell us a secret.
She gets as far as saying "Batman f-" before the audio cuts out.
Given her hyena's name could one assume Harley is sweet on the Batman?
We may never know, but it's fun to think about.
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