Birds of Prey: Black Mask is the villain, but who could play him?

Credit DC Comics, Birds of Prey

Birds of Prey will take on Black Mask and his gang in an effort to protect Cassandra Cain but who should play the Gotham City crime lord?

There’s a lot of buzz surrounding the upcoming DCEU Birds of Prey film. Margot Robbie and Cathy Yan have been working hard as producer and director respectively to get Birds of Prey into production. Walter Hamada fast-tracked the movie written by Christina Hodson. Last week the cast of characters joining Robbie’s Harley Quinn was announced and yesterday we got a synopsis. Today, according to The Warp, we know the villain of Birds of Prey is Black Mask.

This will mark the first time Black Mask appeared on the big screen. The recent report falls in line with other reports that saw the rumors Penguin get the boot. Additional reports suggested Birds of Prey would feature a Batman villain that hasn’t been portrayed in any movies. The reveal of Black Mask as the villain clears up the synopsis.

"“After splitting up with The Joker, Harley Quinn and three other female superheroes – Black Canary, Huntress and Renee Montoya – come together to save the life of a little girl (Cassandra Cain) from an evil crime lord.”"

Who is Black Mask?

In the pages of DC Comics, Black Mask was born Roman Sionis to a wealthy family. Roman was considered by his parents to be different. As their only child, he was set to inherit the family cosmetic business, he developed his obsessions for masks at a very young age. He was bitten by a rabbit creature that made him ill but also birthed the cold man Roman would grow to be. He met a woman, Circe who his wealthy parents deemed unworthy based on her economic social status. Angered by his presents refusal to accept the women he loved he murdered them.

As the new CEO, Roman altered However, he proved to be a terrible businessman attempting to develop a new face-paint line. The new product disfigured Gotham City customers and caused the business to fail. Unwilling to blame himself he release his anger on his dead parents.

While at the cemetery lighting struck him and he took his survival as a sign, a rebirth. He carved his father’s black casket into the notorious mask and debuted in Gotham Black Mask. Along with him came his cult following, The False Face Society who helped him run Gotham as its new Crime Lord. Now that we know who he is and the role he’ll play in Birds of Prey, here are eight actors we’d like to see in the role of Black Mask.