Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn and her new friends will be facing off against a classic Batman foe in Birds of Prey. Ewan McGregor will be bringing Roman Sionis AKA Black Mask to the big screen for the first time in the movie, with the Star Wars actor looking to put his own spin on the comic book character. We’ve got a flavor of the British star’s flamboyant performance from the trailers so far and now, McGregor has teased a few new details about the villain.
As part of Men’s Journal‘s cover story on him, the star called Black Mask the perfect antagonist for “the time of Trump.” It’s easy to see what he means as well by the following description he gave of his character:
“[He is] an absolute narcissist, spoiled in his upbringing to the point of having no contact with what life or people are about, who has a skin this thin and wants nothing more than to be the center of attention.”
Chris Messina co-stars with McGregor in Birds of Prey as another Batman foe Victor Zsasz, here reimagined as a henchman for Sionis. Messina had more to add about what we can expect from Black Mask, too, teasing his ferocious temper.
“He’s an incredible villain because he’s so likable and he’s so seducing. You’re like, I like him, he’s cute, it’s fun being in his world. And then he’ll bite your leg off. He has these incredible turns of violence, this ferocious quality. There are a couple of moments in the movie where he rages that he really went there, and you could hear a pin drop. Then he would turn on a dime and then go back to the charm of the character.”
If you’ve been keeping up to date with BoP news, you’re probably familiar with the reports that Sionis will be portrayed as gay in the movie and that he may have a romantic relationship with Zsasz. Men’s Journal put this idea to McGregor and he obviously didn’t confirm it, but he didn’t deny it, either, promising that the two have a “very interesting” dynamic.
“I don’t want to give anything away, but that’s a fun theory. We definitely have a very interesting bond.”
Birds of Prey (And The Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) also stars Mary Elizabeth Winstead as Huntress, Jurnee Smollett-Bell as Black Canary and Rosie Perez as Renee Montoya. It’s the next DCEU movie on the way as well, arriving in theaters on February 7th, 2020.