Although fans will have to buy tickets to It: Chapter Two to officially soak in the new 30-second teaser for Birds of Prey (And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn), enough high-quality copies have circulated online to provide easy access to Harley's Joker gag -- "I'm so fucking over clowns!" -- and the quick-hit roll call of the film's main cast. But amid the flashes of color is a potential clue to the inclusion of a pair of beloved characters: Harley's hyenas Bud and Lou.
Just before the footage ends, Margot Robbie's character is shown enjoying a burger and winking at the camera as she appears to wink at the camera. Just over her right shoulder is what might be mistaken for a spotted fur coat -- which, technically it is. But look closer, at the studded collars, one pink and one black, or perhaps purple. It's almost definitely Bud and Lou.
Joker and Harley's pets, the hyenas debuted in the 1993 episode of Batman: The Animated Series, "The Man Who Killed Batman," before making the move to comics the following year in The Batman Adventures: Mad Love. However, they didn't receive their names -- a tribute to the classic comedy team of Abbott and Costello -- until the 1998 episode of The New Batman Adventures, "Joker's Millions."
Bud, with the purple collar, and Lou, with the pink one, were introduced into DC comics continuity in 2001, in Harley Quinn #4. Fiercely loyal, Harley's "babies" finally received their own origin in 2018, in Harley Loves Joker #1, written by their co-creator Paul Dini, in which they were liberated as cubs by Harley from a research laboratory (earlier stories suggested they'd been stolen from the Gotham Zoo, either by Joker and Harley, or by Harley and her new gang).
Bud and Lou's fame has grown over the years, with appearances on the animated The Batman, Krypto the Superdog and Justice League Action, and in the video games Batman: Arkham City and Injustice 2. However, Birds of Prey would be their live-action debut.
Directed by Cathy Yan from a script by Christina Hodson, Birds of Prey (And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) stars Margot Robbie, Jurnee Smollett-Bell, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Rosie Perez, Ewan McGregor, Steven Williams, Derek Wilson, Dana Lee, Francois Chau, Charlene Amoia, Chris Messina and Matthew Willig. The film is scheduled for release on Feb. 7, 2020.