When it was announced that Jurnee Smollett-Bell was going to play the role of Black Canary in Birds of Prey, that brought a wave of backlash from some members of the comic book fan community. As the character is typically depicted as a white female, some thought that the casting was an example of filmmakers trying to change an aspect that needed no alteration. While it was a bad situation, it did give Smollett-Bell this particular advantage for when she portrayed her character. As she put it: