Post-credits scenes are a tradition for superhero movies at this point, and while it may be because of the MCU’s example, the modern DCEU has reliably followed suit. Wonder Woman, Aquaman, and Shazam all teased upcoming movies with their after-credits scenes, so it’s only natural to assume that Birds of Prey would include one as well. But, in typical Harley Quinn fashion, sometimes its better to expect the unexpected. Let’s take a look at the ending of Birds of Prey and break down exactly what happened after the credits finished rolling.
Obviously, massive spoilers from here on out. Please proceed with caution!
The final act of Birds of Prey see the members of the titular team coming together for the first time, mostly on accident. Harley, in a bid to save her own life, has arranged a meetup with Black Mask at the Booby Trap, an abandoned funhouse, to hand over Cassandra Cain, who swallowed the encoded Bertinelli diamond he’s so desperate to own. If Harley hands her over, Black Mask will let her go–or, that’s what he says, at least. The odds of her surviving the exchange, she soon realizes, are a lot lower than she’d like. Things get more complicated, however, when both Renee Montoya and Dinah Lance catch wind of the meeting and show up at the Booby Trap to arrest Black Mask and save Cass respectively. Dinah arrives with Roman’s right-hand man, Victor Zsasz, in tow, which in turn leads the final piece of the puzzle to the funhouse–Huntress, who doesn’t actually care about Harley, Cass, or Roman, but wants Zsasz dead for his involvement in her family’s murder, shows up. Finally, all five protagonists are in the same place at the same time.
After dealing with Zsasz by shooting him in the neck with a crossbow and stabbing him over and over with a tranquilizer dart (which may or may not have actually killed him–although Huntress clearly thinks it did), the team realizes that their only real option is to work together to take Roman down. But Roman, who surrounded the Booby Trap with heavily armed henchmen, doesn’t plan on making it easy. What ensues is a massive fight through the Booby Trap, ending in a car chase with Huntress driving a motorcycle, towing a roller skate-wearing Harley behind her. It’s Cass who ultimately saves the day by planting a grenade on Roman and pulling the pin, causing him to explode into a million tiny chunks over Gotham harbor. Zsasz may have a chance at surviving, but Roman definitely does not.
With the dust settling, the women find themselves taking stock of their situation at a Mexican restaurant, day drinking and actually getting to know one another. But before anyone can become too buddy-buddy, both Harley and Cass make a break for it, sneaking out to drive off into the sunset and leaving Renee, Helena, and Dinah to figure out their next steps. The three of them, as Harley narrates, go on to become a vigilante team of their own–calling themselves the Birds of Prey–after Renee quits the force, Dinah gives up trying to stay on the sidelines, and Helena is satisfied with her quest for vengeance. Harley and Cass’s ending is a bit more open, but it’s heavily implied that Harley intends to take Cass under her wing as a sort of protege, at least for the time being. Of course, this may mean Cass will have some role in the upcoming James Gunn Suicide Squad reboot, but we can’t be sure, especially given how fast-and-loose the DCEU tends to be with shared universe continuity.
As for a proper post-credits stinger? Birds of Prey offers only an audio gag and no real scene. If you sit through the credits, Harley breaks the fourth wall to speak over the final seconds, promising that she’s going to share a super-secret detail about Batman. But she only gets as far as saying “Batman f–” before the screen and her audio are cut off completely. What does Batman “f—“? The world may never know.
Harley’s next big-screen outing will be The Suicide Squad, due out August 6, 2021.
