In a recent interview about the upcoming film Birds of Prey, actress Jurnee Smollett-Bell revealed that there is an unexpected yet exciting video game connection to her movie portrayal of Black Canary.
In a group interview, Smollett-Bell shared with reporters that the version of Black Canary that appears in the 2017 fighting game Injustice 2 influenced how she interpreted Dinah Lance’s Canary Cry for the film. “I drew a lot of inspiration for the Canary Cry from the Black Canary in Injustice 2,” she said. “Even physically. For me, I really wanted to make it primal… It’s something she’s trying to hide. So to get to that point, she has to rev herself up.”
In Injustice 2, Black Canary is a member of Batman’s Insurgency and she joins him in his fight to restore order in Gotham City. Her in-game biography states that she wants to “set things right, vowing to never again silence her canary’s cry.” This implies that up until then, Dinah Lance has been hesitant to use her superpower and held it in check. When she finally lets loose, her Canary Cry is a short-ranged but powerful attack with three levels of strength that can stun opponents and drop them to the floor.
Black Canary is a vigilante in the DC Universe, a superhero who fights crime with her advanced martial arts prowess and a sonic scream attack that can shatter glass and incapacitate enemies. Dinah Lance, the Black Canary that appears in both Birds of Prey and Injustice 2, is the daughter of the first incarnation of Black Canary, Dinah Drake. Romantically involved with Green Arrow, Dinah Lance has canonically been a member of multiple superhero squads including Team Arrow, the Justice League, and of course Birds of Prey.
In the comics, the Birds of Prey are a team of female superheroes cofounded by Oracle, formerly Batgirl, and Black Canary. Using Oracle’s computer and technological skills, the group forms an international crime-fighting network that eventually includes a large number of female superheroes from the DC Universe.
The movie Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) will mark Black Canary’s cinematic debut, although she has appeared in numerous video games and as a recurring character in various live-action and animated television series such as Smallville, Arrow, and Justice League Unlimited. In the film, Black Canary will team up with Harley Quinn played by Margot Robbie, the Huntress, and Renee Montoya to save a young girl named Cassandra Cain, who has been targeted by a Gotham City crime lord known as the Black Mask.
So far, in trailers for the Birds of Prey movie, Dinah Lance’s Canary Cry has been showcased very little. Fans eager to hear what Smollett-Bell has come up with will have to wait until the film hits theaters in a couple of weeks.
Birds of Prey releases in theaters on February 7, 2020.
Source: IGN
