DC’s newest movie in their franchise recently released a trailer for one of the most popular characters in the DC cinematic universe, Harley Quinn. However, the enthusiastic villain seems to outshine the other characters who are merely portrayed as sidekicks. 

The Birds of Prey trailer is depicted as a “what happened to” story for Harley Quinn following her debut in Suicide Squad and her ever so popular break up with the Joker. The trailer is completely in her perspective as she narrates all of the actions. If this was a series of Harley Quinn movies, this narration would make sense, however, Birds of Prey is the name of an all-female superhero team within the DC Comics that holds notable characters such as Batgirl, Black Canary and Catwoman. In the trailer, there is not an introduction of any of the other girls on the team, only a brief glimpse of who Harley Quinn will be working with throughout the clip. While this is not a bad thing, it seems as if DC is missing a chance to create new lovable characters that could be a staple to the DC cinematic universe.

Although DC’s ‘Suicide Squad’ was ridiculed and debated amongst fans of the universe, the majority of those who watched the movie had only good things to say about Margot Robbie’s performance as Harley Quinn. Creating a movie that focuses on one of the most beloved characters only makes sense from a business stance, but if DC wants to make a universe in which there are characters who are repeated in future movies, it would make more sense to advertise these characters as well. The trailer does a poor job of telling the audience who exactly the Birds of Prey are. Of course, there is Harley Quinn in all of her glory, but who are the other girls shown in the trailer that make up the team?

In the movie, the Birds of Prey are made up of Harley Quinn, Black Canary, the Huntress, and Renee Montoya as they team up to save Cassandra Cain. Some of the movie depictions of these characters are noticeably different than the comic versions while others seem to be accurate given the information from the trailer. 

Cassandra Cain is shown as a young girl who Harley Quinn wants to save from the antagonist of the film, Black Mask. However, in the comics, Cassandra Cain is the fourth Batgirl who trains under and lives with Batman. She is one of the few Batgirls who is not on the original Birds of Prey team. 

The Huntress is seen as a girl with her signature crossbow and motorcycle. While the motorcycle is new, the crossbow most definitely is not as she is originally portrayed this way in the comics. The similarities between the film and comic  Black Canary and Renee Montoya are difficult to tell as they are not given much screen time. 

There will most likely be another trailer released before the movie is out, but it just seems like, as one of the first trailers, it should have been focused on the group as a whole instead of Harley Quinn’s character and her life of freedom away from the Joker. The movie itself looks fun and full of action, but again, it would have been nice to gain more background on who exactly the Birds of Prey are. Hopefully, in the near future, these characters will have substance to them and Harley Quinn can share the spotlight a little more.