Margot Robbie Struggled to Understand Harley Quinn’s ‘Suicide Squad’ Storyline
Zack Sharf
“Suicide Squad” is one of the worst reviewed comic book films of the decade, but Margot Robbie‘s Harley Quinn looks to have a big comeback in store with next year’s “Birds of Prey” followed by the James Gunn-directed “Suicide Squad” sequel/reboot. Robbie spoke to ScreenRant from the “Birds of Prey” set and admitted that her storyline in the original “Suicide Squad” left her puzzled. Robbie couldn’t understand the romance between Harley and Joker, played by Jared Leto. “Birds of Prey” begins shortly after the two characters break up, a narrative Robbie finds more relatable as an actress.
“I guess what’s always surprised me, and I said this when publicizing ‘Suicide Squad,’ the first film, is that her relationship with Joker always did confuse me the most,” Robbie said. “That was the thing that took me the longest to get my head around. In this film though we’re exploring her not being with Joker. And I actually understand the break-up. That’s something I feel like everyone can kind of understand and relate to in some ways. Though she deals with…like she blows things up, I don’t do that. I understand the motivation that spurred on that train of thought.”
“Bird of Prey” is directed by up-and-comer Cathy Yan, who similarly told /Film that removing Joker from Harley Quinn’s narrative opens up her DC Comics tentpole to feel like a standalone from David Ayer’s “Suicide Squad.”
“The story’s about her emancipation and she’s out on her own, she’s not gonna [deal with the] Joker, and with ‘Suicide Squad’ she’s so connected to the Joker,” Yan said. “I mean, their story [in that movie] is so intertwined. It really is their love story if you will. But this is not. And so I think that gave us a lot of opportunities to say, like, ‘What is she like?’ Not necessarily post-Joker, but just in almost like a parallel universe. And [it] allowed all of us the freedom to say, ‘We’re gonna create a different Gotham.’”
“Birds of Prey” is set for release from Warner Bros. on February 7, 2020. Gunn’s “Suicide Squad” sequel with Robbie has an August 6, 2021 release date.
