Since the beginning of the Worlds of DC franchise’s been… issues. Almost none of the films were critic or fan favourites. The drought broke with the success of Wonder Woman, Aquaman, and Shazam! In the next few years, Birds of Prey, Wonder Woman 1984, and The Batman will have fans rushing to the cinema and voicing their opinions online.
First up, Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn). It will see the return of Margot Robbie’s Suicide Squad character, Harley Quinn, as she ventures away from the Joker’s influence. But is the movie in crisis?
The Mix reports the executives at Warner Brothers aren’t happy with the forthcoming blockbuster’s recent cut. They fear it might become another Justice League. Test audiences love the film and liked the villain, Black Mask.
An editor at Screen Rant, Stephen M. Colbert (not the late-night host), tweeted the following on July 13, 2019:
So the audience test screening for Birds of Prey had people raving about it and the internal WB test screening seemingly had the opposite effect. So basically all I needed to be reassured. Hopefully Robbie can keep their hands off it.
Will Margot Save The Film?
With a feature film, a producer is responsible for the final cut. For television, the director gets the final say in what goes to air.
After the disasters of Justice League and Batman V Superman, it’s time a producer stepped in. Robbie was the one pushing for the film. She even used her own production company to do it. As Aussies, we’re so proud of her for taking on such a huge responsibility. It’s challenging to make a successful superhero film without people judging every move you make.
Margot has been working with Cathy Yen and Christina Hodson (Bumblebee). As a producer, she gets to call the shots in what the fans see.
Not Repeating Past Errors
Every person who has seen the previous entries in the Worlds of DC will recall how Warner Brothers intervened in Justice League and made it the poor excuse for a film it became. They hired Joss Whedon (Buffy the Vampire) to direct reshoots. Because of the director change, the focus became the underdeveloped Steppenwolf while Cyborg’s role in the film suffered.
Zack Snyder could do nothing about the film as he went on personal leave. Fans have been vocal about wanting a release of the ‘Snyder Cut’. We agree. It was his film, and Warner Brothers purposely ruined it. It’s clear the executives only think about the money.
Patty Jenkins, who directed Wonder Woman and the upcoming Wonder Woman 1984, became the first female director to helm a superhero movie with a female lead.
Who Could Be Saying They Don’t Like Birds of Prey?
When figuring out who within WB’s ranks hates the film, we’re guessing the studio bosses. If Margot Robbie has anything to do with stopping them, she’ll stand her ground and tell them where to stick it. Her primary focus is the fans who felt ostracised by the previous DC instalments that didn’t meet expectations.
These quote-unquote bigwigs have never done a day of film school, so their opinions should be invalid. They don’t understand how much work goes into making a movie happen. Hodson, Robbie, and Yan have put their blood, sweat, and tears into the film to make it the best it can be.
What Fans Expect
Fans are critics within any fandom, and the writers, producers, casts, and directors recognise this. The execs don’t. They might say the opposite, but longtime fans don’t buy it. Not for a second. Sometimes they listen, though most of the time they don’t.
For any comic book fan, seeing their favourite characters come to life on the big screen is a thrill in my opinion. With the big superhero or lousy guy groups, they want to see how they came together and started working together. Birds of Prey is precisely the same. Sure, there’s no Barbara Gordon as Oracle/Batgirl, Cassandra Cain was once Batgirl in the comics. That’s probably as close to Batgirl as we’ll get for now.
Will The Executives Get Their Way?
If they get their way, they wouldn’t have learned from their dangerous mistake with Justice League and Batman V Superman. They made unnecessary changes. Also, they didn’t complain about the way these films came out. Again, we’re dealing with men who think superhero movies are for the male populace only. They don’t think a group of women can be superheroes. Surprisingly, they agreed with the final cut of Wonder Woman. They knew Patty Jenkins as the director was a gamble, and it paid off as it focused on only one female character and not a bunch of them.
Things have shaken up enough at Warner Brothers enough without them deciding Cathy Yan’s current edit isn’t good enough. They need to get their opinions straight and realise there’s more to a superhero movie than a big-time hero flexing their muscles. A movie like Birds of Prey should have a story with character development. It shouldn’t involve reshoots and be edited to revolve around a villain with no purpose other than to steal Ray Fisher’s screen time.
To make it worse, fans lashed out at every person involved except maybe the actors. Fans already have a bad experience with Batman V Superman and felt they deserved better than the film they received. So, hopefully, they don’t get their own way and leave fans disappointed again.
Does It Matter What The Executive’s Opinions Are?
To answer this plainly, it does. Without them, no movie would draw breath. While we disagree with their opinions, their backing gives us films.
The important takeaway is hope still exists for Birds of Prey, mainly since Margot Robbie and Christina Hodson serve as the producer, and the screenwriter, respectively.
If Hodson’s track record with her screenplay for Bumblebee and her original screenplays Shut In and Unforgettable are any indication, we will get a great film about some fierce ladies who want to do in the world.
What do you guys think? Could Warner Brothers ruin Birds of Prey before it’s even come out? Let us know below and express your opinion. If you want more Birds of Prey goodness, be sure to subscribe to the blog and click the notification bell for push notifications.
