Margot Robbie will most likely return as the Suicide Squad hero

Cathy Yan has been chosen to direct a standalone Harley Quinn film.

According to Deadline, Warner Bros and DC Entertainment have decided to appoint Cathy Yan as the director of a standalone Harley Quinn film.

Yan will be the first Asian female to direct a DC movie and major superhero film. She will be the third female DC filmmaker, following Wonder Woman’s Patty Jenkins and The New Gods’ Ava DuVernay.

The upcoming Harley Quinn film is untitled at the moment but will most likely see Margot Robbie reprise her role from Suicide Squad. The plot is based on the ‘Birds of Prey’ comic, which suggests an ensemble of female superheroes could be featured, including Black Canary, Batgirl and Huntress.

It is reported that Robbie insisted the new film be directed by a woman.

Yan is a former Wall Street Journal reporter who worked in New York, Hong Kong and Beijing. She was one of the paper’s youngest writers to be featured on the front page.

The director is known for her small-budget indie film Dead Pigs. The indie movie won her the World Cinema Dramatic Award For Ensemble Acting at Sundance last January. She has not directed a major blockbuster.

Production is expected to begin at the end of the year.