An Obi-Wan Kenobi solo film may be a pipe dream at this point, but Ewan McGregor has lined up a new project that’s just as exciting. According to Variety, the actor is in talks to play Roman Sionis, a.k.a. Black Mask, in Birds of Prey.
Black Mask first appeared in Batman #386 in 1985. Born to a wealthy family, Sionis grew up neglected by his image-obsessed parents. As a child, his mother and father forced him to connect with a young Bruce Wayne in order to become friends with his parents and maintain their social standing. Years later, Roman burned down his ancestral mansion, killing his parents in retaliation for their abusive treatment of him. He adopted the Black Mask persona after he was forced out of his family’s cosmetics company. Carving a skeletal facade out of his father’s casket, he became the new face of Gotham City’s criminal underworld.
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Most recently, McGregor starred as the grown-up Christopher Robin in the eponymous film directed by Marc Forster. Next year, he’ll be playing an older version of Danny Torrance in Doctor Sleep, the sequel to Stephen King’s The Shining. McGregor will be the first actor to bring Black Mask to life in a live-action capacity. The character has thus far only shown up in animated form in various TV series and direct-to-DVD features. Black Mask has also made appearances in the Batman: Arkham video game franchise. A character named Richard Sionis was introduced on Fox’s Gotham, but he was killed during the second season. It was implied that this character was meant to be Roman’s father.
Birds of Prey is directed by Cathy Yan from a script by Christina Hodson. The film will be the first R-rated entry in the DC Extended Universe. It is slated for release on February 7, 2020. What do you think about McGregor’s casting? Let us know in the comment section below!
