Batman is the entry point into DC for lots of people. However, screenwriter Christina Hodson also credits another superhero: Margot Robbie.
Hodson’s name may not be instantly familiar, but that’s about to change. Not only did she write Bumblebee, which is in theatres December 20, she wrote the upcoming Birds of Prey: And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn, which starts filming soon, and has been tapped to write the Batgirl movie.
Predictably, she can’t tell us anything about either.
“I cannot say anything, I’m sorry,” Hodson told Gizmodo when asked about how far along Batgirl is. “I know, it’s annoying.”
However, she was much more forthcoming and enthusiastic when asked about how she got involved with DC and writing these two movies in the first place.
“I‘m a big DC fan,” she said. “Batman has always been my number one superhero. Forget everyone else, it was Batman.”
Besides Batman, though, it was Margot Robbie, who plays Harley Quinn in Birds of Prey, who really helped Hodson get into the deeper depths of DC beyond just the Caped Crusader.
“Really I’ve become more of a DC fan as I’ve gotten to enter this universe through Margot,” Hodson said. “I will always be grateful to Margot for bringing me into this universe.
We started working on Birds of Prey about three years ago and I just did a deep, deep dive. I just read everything and became a big fan of the comics.”
As far as Birds of Prey goes, Hodson is most excited to explore not just Harley Quinn, but the other characters, such as Huntress, Black Canary, Cassandra Cain, and the rest.
“It was really fun getting to know all of these characters,” Hodson said. “There’s so many different timelines. So many different versions of these characters in different iterations, and getting to know them, getting to see the through lines—where they stay the same, when they change. I just fell in love.”
We’ll see the results of that love on February 7, 2020, when Birds of Prey hits theatres. Meanwhile, Hodson’s next film, Bumblebee, is out December 20, while Batgirl does not yet have a release date.