Before Birds of Prey there was Æon Flux
All hail Cathy Yan – the writer-director of 2018’s Dead Pigs and just announced to helm Birds of Prey, D.C.’s spin-off of their box office smash, Suicide Squad, featuring that film’s break-out character, Harley Quinn (played by Margot Robbie).
There’s been some commentary touting Cathy as the first female Asian/Asian American to direct a big-budget super hero film – but we can’t forget the path-breaking director and TFH Guru Karyn Kusama, who in 2005 served up Æon Flux, an adaptation of Korean American animator Peter Chung’s sci-fi thriller about a supercharged action-heroine played by Charlize Theron (who continues to wage war against over-the-top comic villainy in Mad Max: Fury Road and Atomic Blonde).
We wish Ms. Yan great success with her new film . At the same time let’s not forget St. Louis born Karyn Kiyoko Kusama’s pioneering efforts in a mighty tough arena.