'Birds Of Prey' Adds 'The Mindy Project' Star Chris Messina As DC Comics Villain Victor Zsasz

The cast of the upcoming DC Comics movie Birds of Prey continues to take shape. Margot Robbie is reprising her Suicide Squad role as Harley Quinn while Mary Elizabeth Winstead and Jurnee Smollett-Bell are joining the DC Extended Universe as Huntress and Black Canary respectively. Meanwhile, Ewan McGregor is taking the role of the villain Black Mask, and now we have word he'll be working with another recurring bad guy from DC Comics.

Chris Messina is best known for his series regular role on The Mindy Project and a recent turn in the HBO limited series Sharp Objects, but he's also had quite an eclectic career starring in a variety of indie and arthouse films over the years. Now he's heading into comic book blockbuster territory by taking the role of Batman villain Victor Zsasz.Deadline has word on the casting of Chris Messina as the secondary villain, who will be working with Black Mask in the film. If you don't recognize the name Victor Zsasz, it might surprise you to know that you've already seen the character on the big screen before. Victor had an extremely small role as a criminal on trial in Batman Begins, receiving a diagnosis from Dr. Jonathan Crane (Cillian Murphy). But he is far more prominent in Batman comics.

Victor Zsasz almost functions as a serial killer version of Batman. When he was 25, his parents died in a boating accident. Suddenly the head of an international company with a huge family fortune, Victor Zsasz ends up depressed and gambles his life away, losing everything to The Penguin. Left with seemingly nothing to live for, he decides to kill himself, but instead, chooses to kill a homeless man. The thrill of the kill creates a madman, and Victor starts slitting throats and posing them for those who stumble upon the crime scene. Every time he kills, he adds a tally to his body.

Victor Zsasz will likely be working with Black Mask in a henchman-like capacity, maybe as his second in command. But that's just speculation on my part. Putting Chris Messina in that role is an interesting choice since he's never really tackled a villainous character like this before.

Along with Chris Messina, Warner Bros. Pictures also announced the addition of Steven Williams (The Chi), Derek Wilson (Preacher), Dana Lee (Dr. Ken), Francois Chau (The Expanse, The Tick), and Matthew Willig (The Ballad of Buster Scruggs) to the Birds of Prey cast. However, their characters have not been revealed at this time.

Birds of Prey is expected to hit theaters on February 7, 2020.