We haven’t seen the last of the DCEU’s Black Canary — or of Jurnee Smollett and Misha Green’s creative collaborations. The duo — who have previously worked together on “Underground” and “Lovecraft Country” and are set to make Amazon action pic “Fuel” — are developing a Black Canary-focused “Birds of Prey” spinoff film at HBO Max. Variety confirmed the news, as did Smollett, who will star.
As portrayed by Smollett in Cathy Yan’s “Birds of Prey,” Dinah Lance/Black Canary is a songstress with “a killer voice” who publicly aligns herself with a Gotham City crime boss, while secretly working to bring him down. She teams up with anti-heroine Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie), Detective Renee Montoya (Rosie Perez), and vigilante The Huntress (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) to defeat him and save pickpocket-with-a-heart-of-gold Cassandra Cain (Ella Jay Basco) from his clutches. The end of the 2020 blockbuster sees Black Canary, Huntress, and Montoya forming their own ass-kicking trio, the Birds of Prey.
“Last year, Green and Smollett teased their interest in teaming up for a Black Canary project, telling Variety that they used to compete in the DCEU fighting video game ‘Injustice 2,’ with Green choosing to play as Black Canary,” the source reveals. Green said, “I just would just do the ‘canary scream’ to win all the time, which would frustrate [Jurnee].” Describing Smollett’s “Birds of Prey” casting as “[feeling] like fate,” she continued, “So, it was like, ‘It’s kind of kismet and funny that you’re now Black Canary because I was using that character to beat you with this game.’”
No word on what Green’s role will be on the Black Canary project, but it seems safe to say she’ll write, direct, and/or produce.
“Lovecraft Country,” Smollett and Green’s most recent collaboration, received 18 Emmy nominations this year, including Outstanding Drama Series, Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series (Smollett), and Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series (Green). The series, an exploration of race and Black history in America via a supernatural lens, was cancelled at HBO after one season. “Underground,” a WGN drama following enslaved people fighting for freedom in the years before the Civil War, ran for two seasons, from 2016-2017. Smollett starred and Green served as showrunner on both shows.
Green and Smollett are producing “Fuel,” a Smollett-led action pic about a wheel woman. The former is also set to write and direct MGM’s next “Tomb Raider” film. “Parenthood,” “True Blood,” and “Friday Night Lights” are among Smollett’s other credits.
