Why Jurnee Smollett-Bell’s Black Canary Deserves Her Own Movie!

Look out, Gotham, Harley Quinn may be single now, but she’s got herself a gang of ladies that should not be trifled with.

Birds of Prey: And The Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn brings four new women to the forefront of the DC Universe, and each one is more fun than the last.

We’ve got Huntress, played by Mary Elizabeth Winstead – remember Gwen from Sky High? That’s her! – who’s got rage issues. We’ve got Cassandra Cain (Ella Jay Basco), a young pickpocket who’s not really afraid of anyone anymore. We’ve got Renee Montoya (Rosie Perez), who’s somehow just now learning how ineffective the GCPD is. And we’ve got Black Canary, played by Jurnee Smollett-Bell, who secretly has a heart of gold.

Honestly, any one of them could probably shoulder their own film. But if we could pick and choose, Black Canary should be the first to get the solo treatment after Harley Quinn.

Much like Harley Quinn, Dinah Lance – that’s Black Canary’s real name – can kick some serious butt.

Roman Sionis saw her as just a pretty face and a soothing voice. And to be fair, she’s definitely got both of those too.

But after seeing Dinah fight off a few goons trying to kidnap Harley while she was black-out drunk, it becomes very clear that Dinah can hold her own in a fight. And she can do it with her hair in her face – remember the funhouse battle?

Worth noting: that hair tie scene is one of the most relatable moments in the movie. Offering a fellow woman a hair tie is one of the most basic yet important ways we look out for each other. Cheers to director Cathy Yan for including it.

I digress. Back to Black Canary.

Beyond being able to kick some ass, there’s a story to her that we need to dive into. She’s really the only one in Birds of Prey who wasn’t given as much background.

We know Montoya’s past at the GCPD – how she solved a huge case, her male partner took the credit and a promotion, and now she’s perceived as bitter and living in the past. We know her biggest struggles are getting her due credit at work, all while maintaining a professional relationship with her ADA ex-girlfriend.

It’s pretty cut and dry. Huntress’s arc is similarly handled.

We find out that she was part of the Bertinelli massacre, but survived. She was saved by a goon, raised by his assassin brother and father, and made it her mission to exact revenge on everyone who was part of the slaughtering of her family.

By the end of the movie, she’s achieved her goal.

Even Cassandra Cain’s story is wrapped up in a bow. She’s young; there’s not much story to tell before she teamed up with Harley. (Her future, though? That’s a story we should see.)

But when it comes to Black Canary, we only got scraps of her story. We know she had a rough childhood; that becomes clear when she offers Cass some money at their apartment complex and offers insight on how to handle fighting parents.

We know next to nothing about how she came into her powers and ended up where she is though.

It’s not like Batman or Spider-Man, who have each had their origins retold countless times over in their respective universes. Dinah Lance’s journey is one that deserves to play out on the big screen.

And speaking of her powers, it would just be so sick to see a whole movie where Dinah utilizes them.

We got to see the Canary cry just once in Birds of Prey. I. Want. More.