Gotham City Sirens director hints that Black Mask might be the movie's villain

David Ayer may have just introduced the world to Gotham City’s newest live-action villain. Take a look at the Suicide Squad director’s latest tweet:

That’s Black Mask, a DC Comics villain who was once the head of a cosmetics company but now serves as the leader of a criminal empire. He’s obsessed with masks, and while wearing one from his personal collection during a fight with Batman and Robin, he fell into a fire and permanently burned the mask onto his face.

Ayer directed Suicide Squad last year, but instead of signing on for that film’s sequel, he’s developing a spin-off called Gotham City Sirens that will center on Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn and other female characters like Catwoman and Poison Ivy. There’s no guarantee that him tweeting a picture of Black Mask means that character will appear in Sirens, but it’s a pretty safe bet considering how much Ayer used Twitter to tease images from Suicide Squad in the lead-up to that film’s release.

Take a look at a screenshot of the character from Batman: Arkham Origins:

Black Mask seems like an excellent choice to join the DC Extended Universe. He’s a character we haven’t seen in live-action movies before (which would serve to expand on the mythology and make the world feel larger), and his criminal antics in the underworld make him a good candidate to interact with Jared Leto’s Joker, who seems destined to at least make a cameo in this movie considering that character’s toxic relationship with Harley Quinn. Plus, Ayer’s Suicide Squad just won an Oscar for Best Makeup, and the charred blending of a mask with human skin seems exactly like the kind of twisted thing Ayer would love to bring to life on the big screen.

Directed by David Ayer, written by Geneva Robertson-Dworet, and starring Margot Robbie, Gotham City Sirens doesn’t have an official release date yet, but Warner Bros. has an open slot available in August of 2018 where it might fit. Considering Suicide Squad made over $130 million during an August opening weekend, it seems likely the studio would position this movie there in the hopes of repeating that success. We’ll keep you posted on this movie as it develops.

Images: Warner Bros./WB Games