Batman Foe Black Mask Is DC's Birds Of Prey Movie Villain

The upcoming Birds of Prey movie may be a while from hitting theaters--as production reportedly isn't happening until early 2019--but it was recently revealed that the film's main villain would be none other than one of Gotham City's most notorious mob bosses. (Update: Our Birds of Prey review is now live and has high praise to sing for what it calls a "neon-soaked delight." Other critic reviews have also been generally favorable.)

Roman Sionis, better known as Black Mask, will be the main villain of the film, according to The Wrap. The Batman and Catwoman foe--who has an obsession with masks and hatred of Bruce Wayne--will have his work cut out for him as a team Gotham City vigilantes are trying to take him down.

According to an alleged synopsis for the film (via Discussing Film), the movie follows Harley Quinn--who recently parted ways with The Joker--as she teams with Black Canary, Huntress, and Renee Montoya in order to save the life of a young girl named Cassandra Cain from a mob boss, which is presumably Black Mask.

Sionis made his comic book debut in Batman #386 back in 1985. The character was created by Doug Moench and Tom Mandrake and became quite the thorn in Catwoman's side during the 2006 volume of her series.

Born into a wealthy family from Gotham City, Sionis learned early on his parents cared more about social standing than their child's safety and well-being. When he was 21, Sionis was forbidden to marry a model as his parents considered her a "lower-class" woman, and his parents died in a fire--mysteriously--later. Sionis became the president of his father's company, and almost destroyed it before being bailed out by Wayne Enterprises.

Sionis lost his mind and took a piece of his father's black casket and made it into a mask. Shortly after, he created the False Face Society of Gotham, which was a collection of thugs and gang members from Gotham's underworld. Since then, he's been a predominant part of the Gotham criminal element, warring against rival gangs and making the heroes' life in the city a mess, especially Nightwing and Catwoman's.

Not much else is known about the upcoming DC film, but Margot Robbie will be reprising her role as Harley Quinn. There are two big DC movies coming out soon though. Both Shazam and Aquaman showed off exclusive footage and had some new trailers at last month's Comic-Con. Aquaman will hit theaters on December 21, and Shazam will strike on April 5, 2019.