This week, news hit that in lieu of a traditional sequel to this summer’s hit movie Suicide Squad, actress Margot Robbie would be re-teaming with that film’s director David Ayer to create an sort of spin-off for her breakout character Harley Quinn. The project in question is Gotham City Sirens, which plans to team her up with various female DC characters.

The name Gotham City Sirens comes from a comic book in which Harley co-starred with Batman villains Poison Ivy and Catwoman. A tweet from Ayer pretty much proved that Harley would indeed by teaming up with these Gotham baddies on the big screen:

#Sirens4ever pic.twitter.com/sutAD9O4G7

— David Ayer (@DavidAyerMovies) December 14, 2016

But what about the other DC heroines that are going to appear in the film? Well, DC Comics has plenty of strong female characters to choose from, but for the sake of this list I’m sticking to characters that have operated in the confines of Gotham City (this movie is called Gotham City Sirens after all). So as much as I love Power Girl and some of the female Green Lanterns, they aren’t really a fit for a street level movie. Here are my top six choices for the ladies I’d like to see give Harley and company a run for their money in the Suicide Squad follow-up.

Barbara Gordon (Batgirl/Oracle)

Barbara Gordon is one of the most important and influential heroes in all of comics, and has long outlasted her intended creation as just the”girl version” of Batman for the Batman ’66 television series. Whether fighting crime in the streets as super heroine Batgirl, or running things behind the scenes after being confined to a wheelchair as the computer information broker known as Oracle, Babs has been one of the leading female heroes at DC for over 50 years. And yet, despite her high profile nature she has never had a live-action incarnation in the modern era on the big screen. A Gotham City Sirens movie would be the perfect opportunity to do so, and finally do justice to the character of Barbara Gordon. We know that there is a Commissioner Gordon in the universe, as Justice League will introduce J.K. Simmons as the character. So why not his daughter Barbara too? After all, Harley, Ivy, and Selina are going to need someone to fight, right? Who better than the leader of the Birds of Prey?And speaking of the Birds of Prey…

Black Canary

Barbara Gordon’s friend and partner, A linchpin in the Birds of Prey comics since the beginning, Black Canary is DC Comics’ other most kick-ass female street fighter (and arguably their biggest female hero not an analog of a male hero aside from Wonder Woman). She’s been around since 1947, fighting crime in fishnets and black leather, sometimes with powers and sometimes not.

Although the character is currently part of the Arrow-verse on TV, it would be fun to see an alternate version of Dinah Laurel Lance on the big screen that was more than just a supporting character to Oliver Queen. The Black Canary is the exact sort of street-level fighter who’d fit perfectly into a movie set in Gotham City, whether she uses her “Canary Cry” powers or just her badass fight moves. And who doesn’t want to see Black Canary fight Catwoman? I mean, that just writes itself.

Huntress

This is where things get complicated, because at DC there have been two distinct versions of the Huntress. The original was Helena Wayne, the daughter of the Batman and Catwoman of the alternate Earth-2. She was born after Selina Kyle reformed and married Bruce Wayne, and grew up to be a crimefighter herself. With Crisis on Infinite Earths, that character was erased from continuity, and a new Huntress was created. This Huntress was also called Helena, but she was Helen Bertinelli, the daughter of one of Gotham’s mafia bosses who, after seeing her entire family murdered in a mob hit, vows revenge against the mob and criminals everywhere. (This Huntress was also briefly Batgirl).

For a movie, I would combine both Huntress characters into one. After all, in this universe Batman is a 40-something Bruce Wayne played by Ben Affleck, who has been Batman for at least two decades already. Thus, it stands to reason that Catwoman would be his contemporary age wise, or at least just a few years younger. (Aren’t we ALL sick of seeing leading men in their 40s paired off with women 20 years younger?) Let Catwoman be an athletic 40-something, and let Helena be her daughter from an affair with Batman early in their careers. A daughter that he doesn’t know about, and one that she gave up for adoption and who became Helena Bertinelli. It would create drama, because Huntress would be up against Catwoman not knowing it’s her mom, while her mom would be aware of her true identity.

Stephanie Brown (Spoiler)

While my preferred movie would have three Gotham City bad girls vs. three Birds of Prey, the filmmakers might want to expand on this somewhat. It could still be three on three, but they don’t want to use the same three characters that constitute the BOP in the comics. There are still plenty of kick-ass women in Gotham City who could replace Huntress of Canary, starting with Spoiler a.k.a. Stephanie Brown.

Much like Huntress, Steph is the daughter of a criminal (in this instance, Batman villain Cluemaster) who decides to right her family’s legacy by becoming a hero herself. She started off as Spoiler, then was briefly Robin, then Batgirl, and is now Spoiler once again. Usually portrayed as the love interest of Tim Drake, the third Robin, a Gotham City Sirens movie would allow her live-action debut to expand beyond being just “Robin’s girlfriend.” The character has an enormous following, and fans would go nuts to see Stephanie Brown on screen.

Cassandra Cain (Orphan)

The fourth heroine on this list to be Gotham’s Batgirl is Cassandra Cain, who currently goes by the name Orphan. Cassandra was introduced into the Batman titles in the late ’90s as the daughter of assassins David Cain and Lady Shiva. Completely deprived of speech and human contact during her childhood as conditioning to become the world’s greatest assassin, Cassandra then grew up to become a top level martial artist, although only much later developed the ability to speak.

She used the name Batgirl for the better part of a decade before being replaced by Stephanie Brown in the role (who was then herself replaced with original Batgirl Barbara Gordon). She briefly used the name “Black Bat,” but in current DC Rebirth continuity, she goes by the code name Orphan. Though in this canon she was never Batgirl, she is part of the Bat-family. Her complicated backstory might make her too much for an ensemble movie like Gotham City Sirens, but it would be nice to have a non-white character in the mix, as Cassandra is half Asian.

Batwoman

One of the only Gotham heroines on this list to never go by the name Batgirl, but that’s because she’s been Batwoman from the word go. Kate Kane is the current holder on the name Batwoman, and is loosely based on a 1950s character named Kathy Kane. Also named Batwoman, Kathy was originally introduced as a girlfriend of sorts for Batman in order to combat the allegations of Batman’s homosexuality arising from the controversial bestselling book Seduction of the Innocent. This original Batwoman faded into obscurity and was essentially replaced by Barbara Gordon as Batgirl, who turned out to be a far more popular character. She was recreated in 2006 as Batman’s cousin Kate Kane, who was a lesbian—a nice twist on a character who was originally created to assuage homophobic fears.

Raised by a high ranking Colonel in the United State military, Kate lost her mother and twin sister at a young age, leaving her to be raised by a single father. After being discharged from a military academy for being in a relationship with a fellow female student, she eventually uses her military training to become Batwoman, long before she even knows her cousin Bruce is Batman. She now serves as one of his most trusted lieutenants. While a character named Batwoman might be redundant in a movie with a Batgirl in it, if for whatever reason the producers don’t use Barbara Gordon, then Kate Kane is perfectly ready for her close up. Besides, it would be amazing to have an LGBT hero in a high profile movie for a change.

—

Which DC heroine would you like to see join up with the Gotham City Sirens? Let us know in the comments section down below!

Images: DC Comics

Will Jared Leto’s Joker be back for Gotham City Sirens?