Jurnee Smollett’s Black Canary Spotted In Batgirl, See The Pics
Jurnee Smollett's Black Canary spotted on the set of Batgirl!
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It’s been a while since we’ve heard from Jurnee Smollett’s Dinah Lance aka Black Canary, who we saw in action in 2020’s Birds of Prey. Since the film’s release there have been conflicting reports about the possibility of a sequel; including Birds of Prey 2‘s potential death, and the notion that it’s moving forward but without Margot Robbie‘s Harley Quinn. Regardless, a new set of images from the set of HBO Max’s upcoming Batgirl confirms that Black Canary still figures into DC’s cinematic narrative.
On Monday, shots of murals featuring Michael Keaton’s Batman and his partner Robin emerged; presumably as part of the background in Batgirl‘s Gotham. Not long afterward, more photos showed up courtesy of a Jurnee Smollett fan account. The first pair of shots show a graffiti covered wooden plank, and among the various flyers and posters is a red poster with the name “Black Canary” written in the top lefthand corner. You can see the images below.
ScreenRant notes that in the corner opposite Black Canary’s name is “11.11,” presumably meaning November 11. A release date for Batgirl has not yet been announced — we only know it’s expected to release in 2022. If this a hint at the movie’s release date, it would make sense in one way at least; November 11, 2022 is a Friday, the day of the week on which most blockbusters are released. However, The Flash is hitting theaters just a week earlier on November 4. While there’s no word yet on whether or not Batgirl will get a theatrical release, it would still seem strange for Warner Bros. to release two DC film adaptations so closely.
The shots that follow show a much larger Black Canary poster, with Jurnee Smollett’s face somewhat blurry. It’s likely that in Batgirl, Black Canary’s identity isn’t a matter of public knowledge, so even if the image were clearer, it might not accurately depict Smollett’s face. One noteworthy aspect of the poster is that her character seems to be sporting much shorter hair than she was in Birds of Prey. It looks closer to the hair length of Smollett’s character from HBO’s Lovecraft Country. You can see those images below.
The shots are sure to fuel speculation that Jurnee Smollett could make an appearance in Batgirl, perhaps in service of her own movie. In August 2021, Deadline confirmed Smollett would reprise the role for a Black Canary solo film at HBO Max. There aren’t a lot of firm details out about the film, but we know at the very least Smollett will be working with some familiar faces. Lovecraft Country alum Misha Green is writing the script with Birds of Prey producer Sue Kroll also producing Smollett’s solo film. There are rumors that Batgirl will set up Black Canary, but nothing solid.
The appearance of Jurnee Smollett’s Black Canary in Batgirl — even if it is just as an Easter egg — is also likely to be seen as further proof that the events of The Flash will see Michael Keaton’s Batman replace Ben Affleck as the Dark Knight of the prime DCEU timeline. With now not just J.K. Simmons’ Commissioner Gordon — Simmons originally played the character in 2017’s Justice League — but also the Black Canary of Birds of Prey as a part of Batgirl‘s narrative, and Michael Keaton confirmed for Batgirl, it seems more and more likely Keaton’s Dark Knight will be staying around for a lot longer than just The Flash.
