Margot Robbie Says the Penguin Was Originally the Villain in BIRDS OF PREY Until Matt Reeves Claimed Him for THE BATMAN

Margot Robbie has revealed a interesting piece of behind-the-scenes trivia about Birds of Prey. According to the Harley Quinn star, the film’s villain was originally supposed to be Oswald Cobblepot, better known as the Penguin, before director Matt Reeves stepped in to secure the character for The Batman.

“The first draft that Christina [Hodson] wrote of Birds of Prey, the villain was the Penguin,” Robbie told Colin Farrell in a recent Entertainment Weekly interview. Farrell, who went on to play Oswald in Reeves’ The Batman and the upcoming The Penguin series on Max, was stunned by the reveal.

Robbie explained that Reeves personally blocked the idea, making sure Gotham’s infamous crime boss was reserved for his film. “And then [director/writer] Matt Reeves said, ‘Don’t use the Penguin. I’m going to use him in my thing,’” she recalled. “And so we swapped it to Black Mask [played by Ewan McGregor].”

This is an interesting what-if for DC fans. Black Mask’s flamboyant crime lord ended up being a strong foil for Harley Quinn, but imagining her chaotic energy clashing with a live-action Penguin paints a very different version of the film.

At the time Birds of Prey entered post-production, Farrell hadn’t even been cast yet, which makes me wonder who Hodson and director Cathy Yan originally had in mind to play Gotham’s bird-loving mobster.

While Penguin never got his showdown with Harley in live action, the two characters have crossed paths in animation. He briefly appeared as an antagonist in the Harley Quinn adult animated series, voiced by Wayne Knight.

Still, fans have yet to see Robbie’s Harley and Farrell’s Penguin share the screen, and for now, that remains firmly in the realm of speculation.

As for Robbie’s future as Harley Quinn, the answer is still up in the air. James Gunn has confirmed that details about her potential return in the new DCU will be “revealed down the line,” though Robert Pattinson’s Batman universe is being kept separate. Whether or not Harley and Oswald ever meet in this new era of DC storytelling remains one of the big unanswered questions.

For now, it’s fascinating to know that Birds of Prey could have looked very different if Reeves hadn’t stepped in. One director’s vision shifted the entire trajectory of Harley’s solo adventure, swapping one Gotham villain for another and reshaping the film in the process.