It’s good news for Black Canary fans: Production on the DC Comics character’s stand-alone movie has been confirmed by TV Line, which has already cancelled several other projects due to the recent merger between HBO Max and Discovery+. ‘Scoob!: The Holiday Haunt,’ for example, was axed after the merger, as was the highly anticipated Batgirl.’ As a member of the titular DC Comics team, Black Canary makes her film debut in 2020’s Birds of Prey. Audiences and reviewers alike embraced the film, and it performed well at the box office.
Black Canary (working title) was first kept under wraps by HBO Max in order to protect the privacy of Jurnee Smollett’s character Dinah Lance, who would be played by actress Jurnee Smollett. It’s been reported that Jussie Smollett will return to reprise her part in a sequel to the original film, however, the storyline details haven’t been disclosed yet. During that time, Smollett spoke with Comicbook about getting the chance to reprise his part, but he couldn’t say much about what fans may expect. Those are the words she used;
“I’m so enthusiastic about a number of things that I can’t talk about that I can’t help myself. I can only say that I’m a little nervous, but I’m excited nonetheless. I’m looking forward to seeing a lot of new places… With Black Canary, I feel like we’ve barely scratched the surface. As a martial arts expert, she’s one of the best DC characters around. As a mental challenge, it’s exciting to think about how much further, wider, and deeper I might be able to go into this idea.”
Smollett will reunite with Lovecraft Country screenwriter Misha Green (who also wrote the script for this film). Initially, Smollett and Green collaborated on the historical drama Underground, released in 2016, before moving on to the horror thriller Lovecraft Country. The plot of Black Canary has been a well-guarded secret, but actress Eva Green gave fans a rare glimpse into the production’s development a few months ago when she shared an Instagram story snapshot of a large binder bearing the film’s working title on the front cover. Fans of DC Comics were expecting that Batgirl would give them a hint of what to anticipate from the film, but WBD cancelled the movie.
At least the movie’s fans may breathe a sigh of relief knowing that production is still going strong. Producer Sue Kroll, well known for her work on Birds of Prey, has signed on to produce Black Canary with her company, Kroll & Co. Entertainment. The release date for Black Canary has not yet been determined.