DC's Birds of Prey Movie Adds Chris Messina, Fills Out Its Cast
The complete cast for Birds of Prey reveals Chris Messina's addition as DC Comics villain Victor Zsasz. After Margot Robbie broke out in her role as Harley Quinn in Suicide Squad, Warner Bros. and DC Films have selected Birds of Prey to be her next appearance. The movie will once again team Harley up with other DC characters, but it will be an entirely different set up this time.
Birds of Prey will pair Harley with DC heroines Black Canary and Huntress. Casting these two roles was an early priority for the studios and director Cathy Yan due to their significant roles in the movie. After a shortlist of contenders surfaced, Jurnee Smollett-Bell and Mary Elizabeth Winstead were cast as Black Canary and Huntress respectively. But, since Birds of Prey is a team up movie, it means that there must be villains to fight. Ewan McGregor will fill the lead villain role as Black Mask, but he will not be alone.
Deadline revealed the full cast list for Birds of Prey, which includes the confirmation of Chris Messina and others. Messina (Sharp Objects) will play the DC villain Victor Zsasz who will work with Black Mask in the movie. Messina will be the third person to play Zsasz in a live-action setting after Anthony Carrigan (Gotham) and Tim Booth (Batman Begins), although THR shares John Leguizamo was going to play the part before Messina but had to drop out. In addition to Messina's casting, it has also been confirmed that Steven Williams (The Chi), Derek Wilson (Preacher), Dana Lee (Dr. Ken), Francois Chau (The Expanse), and Matthew Willig (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.) have all joined the cast of Birds of Prey - but their roles have not yet been revealed. The Wrap also reported comedian Ali Wong has joined the cast as an associate of Renee Montoya, as well as the addition of Robert Catrini.
Victor Zsasz was created by Alan Grant and Norm Breyfogle in 1992. After losing all of his money to gambling, Zsasz is on the brink of committing suicide. He is assaulted right before he ends his life and instinctively kills his attacker instead. In this moment, Zsasz finds what he believes to be his purpose and sets out to liberate people from their miserable lives. His insanity doesn't stop there, as he also carves a tally mark into his skin for each of his kills. The combination of him and Black Mask could make for an intimidating rogues gallery for the Birds of Prey to try and defeat. However, since there are no details given on the other cast members' characters, they could play any number of roles, such as henchmen, fellow criminals, or even have ties to the main heroes.
Now that these eight new cast members are confirmed for Birds of Prey, it looks like the entire main cast list is set. Other additions to the film's cast include Rosie Perez as Detective Renee Montoya and Ella Jay Basco as Cassandra Cain. If there are any smaller roles that need to be filled, those announcements should be made sooner than later, as Birds of Prey is quickly approaching the start of production.
