Ewan McGregor is in talks to play Batman villain Black Mask in the Harley Quinn spinoff, “Birds of Prey,” sources tell Variety.
Variety first reported that Warner Bros. was eyeing McGregor for this role when Mary Elizabeth Winstead and Jurnee Smollett-Bell joined the cast as Huntress and Black Canary, respectively. At the time, no meeting had taken place, but the studio was eager to work with him again after collaborating on “Doctor Sleep,” the sequel to “The Shining,” where he plays an older version of Danny Torrance.
Huntress, Black Canary, and Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn will battle Black Mask, a kingpin in Gotham City’s criminal underworld who has a fixation with masks. Rosie Perez is set to play Gotham City police detective Renee Montoya.
Robbie is reprising her role as Quinn, which she first unveiled in 2016’s “Suicide Squad,” and is also on board to produce with Sue Kroll and Bryan Unkeless.
Cathy Yan is directing the pic, which hits theaters on Feb. 7, 2020.
Although this would mark McGregor’s first foray into the superhero genre, he’s no stranger to sci-fi, having made his mark as Obi-Wan Kenobi in the “Star Wars” prequels.
The will would be a reunion for McGregor and Winstead, who starred in the third season of FX’s “Fargo.” He was most recently seen as the title character in the “Winnie the Pooh” pic “Christopher Robin.” He is repped by UTA. TheWrap first reported the news.
(Excerpt) Read more in: Variety