Why Birds of Prey Killed Black Mask So Early In The DCEU (2024)

Black Mask, the villain ofBirds of Prey (And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn)was originally a partof Batman's iconic rogue's gallery. The DCEU brought in Black Maskas the big bad forBirds of Prey,but he died at the end ofthe movie. Why didn't the DCEU save thisBatman villain for future use in the film universe?

InBirds of Prey,Roman Sionis, a.k.a. Black Mask,is a prominent gangster in Gotham City. Roman Sionis (Ewan McGregor) has a deep respect for Joker, and when he discovers Harley Quinn is no longer with Joker, he sets his targets on her. Roman also has beef with the other women whomake up the Birds of Prey roster, which only gets deeper during the course of the movie. But while Roman is an accomplished and ruthless crime lord, he's blown up by a grenade at the end of the film, bringing his time in the DCEU to an explosive end.

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While comic fans might be disappointed with Roman's death, it's not surprisingBirds of Prey killedhim off. It's incredibly common for superhero movies, including Batman movies, to kill their villains at the end — especially when villains are one-offs, meant only as single film threats. There are some exceptions, but these exceptions are usually reserved for overarching villains. The MCU kept Thanos alive, for example, for sothey could build up toInfinity War.Scarecrow lived through the Dark Knight trilogy, but was never a focal point beyondBatman Begins.The majority of modern superhero movie villains are put on ice after serving their purpose as a one-off antagonist.

It's also nothard to imagine that Black Mask didn't fitintothe DCEU's plans beyond Birds of Prey. DCis resetting their version of Batman withMatt Reeves' upcomingThe Batman.The movie has already confirmed classic Batman villains Catwoman, Riddler, and Penguin. Along with these three Rogues Gallery members,The Batmanwill also feature crime boss Carmine Falcone. Even if all four of these villains were to die inThe Batman,DC has only scratched the surface of iconic villains for Batman to take on. Black Mask doesn't carry the same name value to non-comic fans, so DC likely didn't think twice about killing Roman.

Black Mask's deathdisplays how expansive and colorful Batman's corner of the DC Universe is. There are so many Gothamites the DCEU can utilize.Birds of Preyisn't even the first Batman villain-centric movie,asJokercame out last year. Pulling Batman villains that aren't as popular as Joker for movies likeBirds of Preyexpands the horizons for what the DCEU can do. Black Mask probably wouldn't be used inThe Batmanbeyond a brief cameo. Putting the character inBirds of Prey allowed for a cool and unique version of the character to get someserious screen time.Letting villains diemight fly in the face of Batman's code,but all that matters is Black Mask got the chance to be aDCEU big bad.

Next:Does The Birds of Prey Movie Do Justice To The DC Heroines?