Jurnee Smollett’s Black Canary Rumored For ‘Birds Of Prey’ Spinoff

If you ask me, there were a lot of highlights from Birds of Prey, and not just Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn. You could easily spinoff the other characters surrounding her into their own films, or develop a sequel focusing on them minus Harley. In particular, Jurnee Smollett’s Dinah Lance aka Black Canary was a real treat and a new spin on the character, and according to a rumor (via CBM) says she’s going to get her own movie.

Now, take this with all the skepticism it deserves. I certainly am. There aren’t any details or anything like that, so it’s hard to have much faith. But we do know Warner Bros. is lining up more mid-sized content that can be exclusive to HBO Max, and I would argue Black Canary is perfect for that sort of thing.

I mean, they’ve already got Leslie Grace set to play Barbara Gordon/Batgirl within the DCEU. She and Canary are running buddies in the Birds of Prey together in the comics. Why not put them in one another’s orbit on screen, too? Fingers crossed this happens, not the least because Smollett is really gung-ho for it. She said so to Variety just last summer…

“It’s a dream, character and was a dream to play her. If [the] dynamics fell in the right way, I would absolutely do it in a heartbeat.”

Travis Hopson
Travis Hopson has been reviewing movies before he even knew there was such a thing. Having grown up on a combination of bad '80s movies, pro wrestling, comic books, and hip-hop, Travis is uniquely positioned to geek out on just about everything under the sun. A vampire who walks during the day and refuses to sleep, Travis is the co-creator and lead writer for Punch Drunk Critics. He is also a contributor to Good Morning Washington, WBAL Morning News, and WETA Around Town. In the five minutes a day he's not working, Travis is also a voice actor, podcaster, and Twitch gamer. Travis is a voting member of the Critics Choice Association (CCA), Washington DC Area Film Critics Association (WAFCA), and Late Night programmer for the Lakefront Film Festival.