Of all the side characters on Arrow, Helena Bertinelli aka Huntress, portrayed by Jessica De Gouw, was one of the most notable anti-heroes. Her complicated character as well as her tragic backstory made her final confrontation with Oliver so much more intriguing. Even without his aid, Huntress then did fine on her own, proving that she doesn’t have to rely on other superheroes to be a hero.
However, sometimes it can come in handy to fight alongside others. Mary Elizabeth Winstead’s Huntress joined the Birds of Preyin the 2020 film and it looks like she made the right choice. Both actresses portrayed the well-established comic book character in their own way and had a lot to offer to the audience, even the people who read the comics and were curious how well would both portrayals of the Huntress fit the source material.
Mary Elizabeth Winstead Is Comic Accurate: She Doesn’t Need A Combat Training
On Arrow, Helena knows how to fight but she still trains with Oliver. On the other hand, when Mary Elizabeth Winstead’s Huntress comes back, she does just fine on her own in combat.
She’s an accomplished markswoman and by wielding a crossbow, she can kill her enemies. Her training had already happened before the start of the film. De Gouw’s Huntress only picks up crossbow later on while Winstead’s Huntress already possesses all the fighting skills she has in the comics as well.
Jessica De Gouw Is Better: She Has A Mentor Who Trains Her
Since Batman wasn’t present in the Arrowverse by the time Helena Bertinelli first appeared, she trained with Oliver Queen instead. And the Green Arrow taught Helena a lot of useful fighting tricks.
In the comics, Helena also learned from other superheroes, albeit not Green Arrow. Instead, she drew her inspiration from Batman and she also worked alongside Dick Grayson aka Nightwing. These two even dated for a while, just like Helena and Oliver temporarily get together before Helena’s thirst for revenge drives them apart.
Mary Elizabeth Winstead Is Comic Accurate: She Likes To Fly Solo
Of all the future Birds of Prey members, Helena is the most reluctant one to join the team. She does so in the end but at first, she wants to have nothing to do with them as she prefers to work alone.
That reflects her personality from the comics where she also likes to fly solo and only works with other superheroes when she feels like she has no other choice. It’s difficult for comic book Helena to open up to people and Mary Elizabeth Winstead’s Huntress is the same.
Jessica De Gouw Is Better: She Trained In Sicily
Even though her motivation for training in hand-to-hand combat, among other things, was different, she went about it in the same way.
Just like in the comics, Helena Bertinelli left America and went to Sicily where she learned everything she knows about combat. She then returned to Star City to use her newfound knowledge and kill her father.
Mary Elizabeth Winstead Is Comic Accurate: She Lost Her Family
One of the major aspects of Huntress’s backstory in the comics is the loss of her family. After it had happened, Helena was determined to avenge her family and kill those who took their lives.
She had the same motivation in the Birds of Prey, and just like in the comics, she wouldn’t let anyone get in her way until she fulfilled her mission.
Jessica De Gouw Is Better: She Looks More Like The Huntress
Every comic book artist drew the Huntress in a slightly different way. However, appearance-wise, Jessica De Gouw is closer to the comic book Huntress than Mary Elizabeth Winstead. Huntress has long dark hair, just like De Gouw has on Arrow.
She also has blue eyes in the comics which matches De Gouw’s eye color. Mary Elizabeth Winstead, on the other hand, sported a different short hairdo in Birds of Prey and her eyes are brown, not blue.
Mary Elizabeth Winstead Is Comic Accurate: She Lives In Gotham
Batman is by far the most famous superhero who lives in Gotham – but he’s not the only one. So does Batgirl, Batwoman, Robin, and Huntress as well.
Even though Helena spent a lot of time in Italy as well, Gotham is her home, and the Birds of Prey movie reflects that. As such, it gave Huntress the chance to come across Harley and the remaining Birds of Prey members.
Jessica De Gouw Is Better: She’s Known For Her Brutality
In the comics, Huntress and Batman often clash and disagree with each other. Batman doesn’t trust Huntress since he thinks she’s too violent and unpredictable.
Jessica De Gouw portrayed Helena’s more violent side of her nature accordingly. Even when Helena tried to leave her anger behind, she still wasn’t able to do it and as a result, willingly hurt and killed people.
Mary Elizabeth Winstead Is Comic Accurate: She Works With The Birds Of Prey
Even though she was originally reluctant to do so, Huntress joined the Birds of Prey at the end of the film. That’s not what happened on Arrow where Helena fought Black Canary instead.
In the comics, Huntress does join the team and she’s one of its most prominent members, right alongside Oracle (former Batgirl Barbara Gordon) and the above-mentioned Black Canary.
Jessica De Gouw Is Better: She Tried To Kill Her Father
The circumstances might have been different but the result was the same. Both in the comic books and on Arrow, Huntress tried to kill her father. She aimed to do so on the show because he was responsible for the death of the man she loved.
The story was a bit different in the comics. Helena tried to kill her biological father when she discovered he was responsible for the death of the Bertinelli family – as her biological father was Santo Cassamento, not Frank Bertinelli.
