DC Continues to Open Doors for Women Behind and in Front of the Camera

While the Marvel movie world continues to churn out male-dominated movies with men at the helm, DC is breaking down barriers for women and people of color both in front of and behind the camera. Following Wonder Woman'ssuccess, last summer in the hands of director Patty Jenkins, DC and Warner Bros. announced last month that Ava DuVernay (Selma, A Wrinkle in Time, Queen Sugar) will direct The New Gods. On Tuesday it was announced that Cathy Yan will direct Birds of Prey, making her one of three women and the first Asian-American woman to land a directing gig in the superhero universe, according to Screenrant.

There's not a lot of information out about Birds of Prey, but it has been confirmed that Suicide Squad'sMargot Robbie will reprise her role as Harley Quinn for the film, which may pit Harley's Sirens against Black Canary, Batgirl, and Huntress. Yan (who directed the feature Dirty Pigs) will work with a script from Cristina Hodson, who wrote the Transformers spin-off Bumblebee, Screenrant reports.

As Marvel gears up to release Avengers: Infinity War from directors Joe and Anthony Russo with a script from Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely (the same foursome behind Captain America: Winter Soldier), DC has lined up megawatt producer and director DuVernay to direct The New Gods, which features Jack Kirby's gods created in the '70s including Darkseid, Orion, Mister Miracle, Big Barda,io9reports.

Jenkins is already slated to direct the Wonder Woman sequel, which brings DC's tally of superhero flicks with women in the director's chair up to four while Marvel has yet to feature a woman at the helm.