WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Birds of Prey (And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn), in theaters everywhere now.
Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) is a consistently funny film, throwing a solid number of gags at the audience as Harley and the rest of the Birds of Prey make their way through Gotham City. It even finds a way to have a lot of fun with a single food item, much like the original Avengers did with shawarma. But it actually goes way beyond that, making an egg sandwich an entire motif in the film.
While the Marvel Cinematic Universe turned shawarma into a pretty solid joke, the DC Extended Universe just gave Harley Quinn a much more distinct -- and important -- egg sandwich.
THE AVENGERS' SHAWARMA
Shawarma became tied to the MCU forever thanks to a joke during the climax of The Avengers. After saving the day from Loki's invading armies, the team is briefly convinced that Iron Man has died in the effort. However, Hulk is able to wake him up with a roar, which prompts Iron Man to start quipping about everyone taking the next day off. Among his ramblings is a mention of a shawarma place he passed during the battle. He comments that he doesn't even know what shawarma is, but he wants it. This was followed up in the film's last post-credits scene, which saw the entire exhausted team hanging out at a restaurant silently eating shawarma.
It's a memorable moment that quickly became a popular part of the fandom. Fanart was created to commemorate the moment. These references were eventually even shared online by the Russo Brothers, who directed the sequels Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame. But it doesn't have much more depth beyond that initial laugh factor. It's a throwaway gag at the end of a fun film that helps humanize all the larger-than-life characters the audience just saw bring down a god and his army of alien warriors. There's no deeper meaning, though, which isn't the case in Birds of Prey.
THE FAMOUS SANDWICH
Birds of Prey introduces its featured food much earlier in the film. The morning after she blows up ACE Chemicals, a very hungover Harley Quinn heads to one of her favorite diners. There, she orders a sloppy bacon, egg and cheese sandwich. Harley and the film treat the sandwich with reverence, the camera moves in slow motion towards a Harley desperate for a bite.
However, as soon as she acquires the beloved sandwich, she ends up being chased by Renee Montoya and others. Along the way, the sandwich is thrown to the ground and spills apart. Harley becomes almost as viscerally broken up about that as her breakup with Joker, and spends the film complaining that she never got her sandwich (especially when she and Renee get into another fight later in the story). However, after saving Cassandra, working with the future Birds of Prey and selling the Bertinelli diamond, Harley finally gets another sandwich -- and gleefully eats it as the film ends.
Unlike the shawarma, the egg sandwich actually has a character connection. It's representative of Harley's desire to have her own things and earn them for herself. This ends up being a major throughline for her arc during the film, which sees Harley trying to learn how to stand on her own two feet.
Finally getting the sandwich she wanted so badly at the beginning of the film is a major moment for her, especially considering she gets it from Cassandra -- who has become something of her protegee by the end of the film. The sandwich isn't forced upon Harley like so many other things in her life, but given to her by someone who actually looks up to and respects her. It's a sweet moment that makes her first bite all the more rewarding. That's how you tie a meal into a film.
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, Ella Jay Basco, Steven Williams, Derek Wilson, Dana Lee, Francois Chau, Charlene Amoia, Chris Messina and Matthew Willig. The film is in theaters now.