When news broke last month revealing the lineup for the Birds of Prey movie, many a fan breathed a sigh of relief upon learning that Huntress, Black Canary and Rene Montoya will be featured alongside Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn. But what baffled the same folks was the realization that Barbara Gordon will sit this one out, so don’t count on seeing her as either Batgirl or Oracle.
In fact, what I found to be quite intriguing was the decision to include Cassandra Cain in the project, as it’s being said the team will have to recover her from the hands of an evil mob boss, whom we now know to be Black Mask. And though Cass may be one of the greatest living martial artists in the comic book realm, we can’t be too sure of where her skill level’s at in the film.
Speaking of which, it appears that the studio will be seeking a rather young actress to fill the part, for 14-year-old Peyton Elizabeth Lee (Andi Mack, Shameless) is rumored to be up for the gig. Keep in mind that fairly reputable tipster Daniel R on Twitter is the one who brought us this nugget, but he’s willing to admit that nothing’s concrete at this point.
If indeed Lee’s being talked about over in Burbank, I have to admit that she’d be a solid choice to fill this slot in the cast. But the real question is whether director Cathy Yan intends on giving her a superhero codename before the credits roll.
If we’re to refer to her as simply “Cassandra Cain,” that’s just fine and dandy. But if she takes up the mantle of Batgirl, one would assume that means we won’t see Barbara Gordon in any movie for the foreseeable future. Conversely, if she ends up operating under the names of either Black Bat or Orphan, then the door’s left open for Babs.
Right now, Birds of Prey lacks a concrete release date, but 2020 seems to be the most likely year it’ll drop. As always, keep watching this space for more.