There’s been a lot of movement on Warner Bros.' DC flickBirds of Preyover the last month or so. The superhero film, centering on the title team of Harley Quinn, Black Canary, Huntress, and Renee Montoya, will starMargot Robbiereprising her role as Quinn, with franchise newcomersJurnee Smollett-Bell,Mary Elizabeth WinsteadandRosie Perezplaying the other respective roles. We’ve known since August thatDC villain Black Maskwould be the film’s antagonist, but now we know thatEwan McGregorwill be taking on that part.
The Wrapreports that McGregor will play the Gotham mob boss Roman Sionis, a gangster who dons the descriptive mask as leader of the False Face Society where the fashion statement is a requirement of membership. Few other details are available at the moment, such as just what sort of origin story we’re going to see for Black Mask and just what form his eponymous mask will take.
His origin, a darker inversion of Bruce Wayne’s own transformative tale, has remained more or less the same since his 1985 introduction in the comics (here’s hoping they show him being dropped on his head as an infant and bitten by a raccoon as a child). His mask, however, has variously been: an ebony skull carved from his father’s casket, melted into his face when the villain is badly burned, possessing technology that grants him some form of mind control of others, and was once a metallic, gray mask, totally defeating the purpose of the name. The character and his many stories are bonkers, so this should be fun to see McGregor tackle on screen.
Written byChristina Hodson(Bumblebee), who is also penning aBatgirlscript for Warner Bros.,Birds of Preywill also feature Asian superhero Cassandra Cain, who would take on the moniker of Batgirl, Black Bat, and Orphan in her various storylines. We’ll see how all of DC’s heroes and villains get along on the big screen when directorCathy Yan’s R-ratedBirds of Preyarrives July 17, 2025.
For more onBirds of Prey, be sure to get caught up with some of our most recent write-ups linked below:
