Batman's Toughest Sidekick Has Barely Appeared On Screen — And The DCU Should Change That
There have been more live-action versions of Batman than the average person could list off the cuff, but his extended bat-family has seen considerably less high-profile screen time. However, now that James Gunn's DC Universe has announced "Batman: The Brave and the Bold" and we know that Batman's son Damian Wayne is on his way to joining the franchise, this might finally be subject to change.
Because of this, there's also a possibility that we may, at long last, be on the verge of getting a decent big screen adaptation of Cassandra Cain, Batman's most hardcore sidekick by a significant margin. Originally known as Orphan, Cain is one of the many Batgirls running around in DC's comics books. And on top of being immediately recognizable thanks to her cool, black uniform and full-face mask, she might just be the best fighter in the entire DC Comics universe. The daughter of legendary martial artist Lady Shiva, Cain is a martial arts prodigy and a trained killer who's been taught to remain silent and interpret her opponent's movements. Her skill is such that Batman himself is happy to admit that Cain would beat him in a serious scuffle.
To date, Cain has only appeared in a single live-action DC project. In the entertaining but underseen 2020 film "Birds of Prey (And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn)," Cass Cain (Ella Jay Basco) is a talented, bratty young thief who's decidedly not much of a fighter. And while Basco's Cain is by no means a bad character, she's pretty far removed from her comic book counterpart. As such, it's high time that the DCU gives Batman's toughest sidekick her much-deserved moment in the spotlight.
Cassandra Cain is as tough as they come, and the DCU would do well to utilize her
The assorted sidekicks and allies that make up the Caped Crusader's "Batman Family" are excellent characters that deserve a chance to step out of their billionaire patriarch's shadow. We at /Film have already argued that Nightwing deserves his own DC movie, but at the end of the day, Dick Grayson and Damian Wayne are both just Robins at dramatically different stages of their vigilante career path. If the DCU wants to keep things truly fresh, co-heads James Gunn and Peter Safran should absolutely look at non-Robin members of the squad — many of whom happen to be women.
Should they do that, Cassandra Cain would be an obvious player to bring into the fray. After all, Warner Bros. Discovery's infamous decision to cancel its "Batgirl" movie previously robbed us of a live-action iteration of Barbara Gordon (Leslie Grace). Meanwhile, Mary Elizabeth Winstead's "Birds of Prey" character, Huntress, was a (somewhat) more comics-accurate version of that crime-fighter than the film's take on Cass Cain, but she's also part of the now-defunct DC Extended Universe.
Moreover, there's little denying that Cain would be right up Gunn's alley as a character. His "Guardians of the Galaxy" film trilogy is noted for its complicated and often comically stoic female characters like Gamora (Zoe Saldaña) and Nebula (Karen Gillan), and he's continued that trend in the DCU with "Peacemaker" co-lead Emilia Harcourt (Jennifer Holland). In that context, a lithe, stoic sidekick who can absolutely beat Batman up should she so desire seems like a very James Gunn character, doesn't she? Here's hoping Gunn himself agrees.