On the heels of the alleged Reddit leaks spoiling Wonder Woman 1984, that were later taken down due to copyright, the same user posted more detailed spoilers – this time of Birds of Prey’s plot.
Reddit user u/Slade_Wilson_23 posted on the subreddit r/DCEUleaks a bulleted list of beat-for-beat alleged plot spoilers and pointed character summaries.
Slade starts by describing the movie’s subjective POV and flashback structure – going from a musical number into a scene of torture. And he then furthers the theory Harley Quinn breaks the fourth wall and narrates the story:
“Movie begins with Harley Quinn performing a music number. This turns out to be a fantasy she is having while Black Mask tortures her for information. She does the ‘That’s me, want to know how I got into this situation?’ bit and the movie flashes back to the beginning, with Harley narrating and frequently breaking the fourth wall.”
His next point backs up what we’ve reported and what the teaser trailer shows. Harley is kicked out by Joker and buys a hyena plus Cassandra Cain swallows something belonging to Black Mask. The differences from earlier reports are Cain has a USB drive and Harley initially works for Mask:
“Harley breaks up with the Joker and decides to start anew, including buying a hyena. She is hired by Black Mask to find Cassandra Cain, a street orphan who stole something from him: A USB drive with something Black Mask desperately needs. Cass turns out to have accidentally swallowed it, and when Harley finds out they’re going to cut Cass open to get it, she can’t bring herself to turn her over and decides to protect her.”
Related: Harley Quinn Gets Kicked Out in New Birds of Prey Set Photos
Much of what we keep hearing about Black Mask is affirmed: that he is gay with a thing for his enforcer, Zsasz, and a ruthless misogynist. He hates women so much, being told “no” sends him over the edge. That parallels his reputation in the comics, as does his reported appreciation for art:
“Black Mask is a flamboyant and sadistic gay mobster who masquerades as a respectable nightclub owner. He is obsessed with art and involved with his main enforcer, Victor Zsasz. He is also autistic about being told ‘no’. All the girls refuse to obey him at some point, so he becomes obsessed with killing them.”
Related: Ewan McGregor Describes Birds of Prey’s Black Mask as Villain for “the Time of Trump”
Line by line, user Slade tells readers what gives the Birds a stake in the proceedings.
Black Canary (played by Jurnee Smollett-Bell), says Slade, was once a vigilante and, as the trailer indicates, has her powers. She joins the fray after finding out what Black Mask is like:
“Black Canary is a retired vigilante turned nightclub singer who works in one of Black Mask’s venues. She has the canary cry and ends up deciding to help Cass after seeing how much of a bastard Black Mask really is.”
Huntress has an alleged association with Black Mask as well and turns on him. Like the comics and the Arrowverse, she is reported as the daughter of a mafioso slain by Mask, adding her vendetta against him to the equation:
“Huntress is Black Mask’s main enforcer. She is the daughter of a rival mobster whom Black Mask killed, and when she discovers this, she goes rogue and vows to kill him, and wants to use Cass as bait to lure him in.”
Related — Birds of Prey: First On-Set Look at Mary Elizabeth Winstead as Huntress
Boozy Renee Montoya is thrown off the police force which is in Black Mask’s pocket. She hears about the drive and thinks she can use it against him:
“Renee Montoya is an alcoholic lesbian cop kicked out of the force by her corrupt bosses on Black Mask’s payroll who catches word of the drive and sets out to retrieve it hoping it contains evidence that can bring Black Mask down.”
Harley persuades them all to join forces when her precious hyena is killed:
“Harley’s hyena is killed by Black Mask, causing her to swear revenge against him. Since they’re all marked for death, she rallies the others and convinces them to strike back against Black Mask.”
Joining forces, they attack Black Mask on all fronts. Here, it jumps to Harley’s capture which is part of the plan (a very Joker-like move). Black Mask’s origin is fully realized in a climactic confrontation before he’s taken into custody:
“They sabotage Black Mask’s operations (attacking his nightclubs, taking down the cops on his pocket, etc). Harley is eventually captured and tortured, but being caught is part of her plan, and she is rescued by the others and they lure Black Mask into a final confrontation at their headquarters in an abandoned amusement park, where Zsasz gets killed and Black Mask disfigured by an explosion and arrested by Montoya.”
The contents of the drive are revealed afterward (“d*ck statues,” if that’s possible). Slade notes this may have been changed by audience reaction:
“Cass retrieves the drive, which turns out to possess statues of Black Mask’s dick that he was crazily possessive of. Test-audiences hated the reveal so they apparently changed it to something else, don’t know why.”
Related: Margot Robbie’s Birds of Prey Reshoots to Remove Lewd Storyline and Tone Down Villain
With Mask arrested, Huntress and Black Canary stay partners, Cassandra winds up with a good family, and Harley moves on, open to her next adventure with Task Force X:
“Black Canary and Huntress decide to keep working together as vigilantes, while Harley goes off on her own after arranging for Cass to be taken in by a nice family.”
“R-rated, very violent and full of gore and cussing. Test-audiences overall liked it,” writes Slade. Many of his claims, if accurate, could change or already have changed. The post is a few days old but the information might be older. View it below:
Directed by Cathy Yan and starring Margot Robbie, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Rosie Perez, and Ewan McGregor, Birds of Prey lands in theaters Feb. 2020.
What do you say? Do these spoilers ruin the movie? Will you go see it? Leave us a comment.