As the much anticipated release of Suicide Squad continues to approach, Entertainment Weekly has once again spoiled us with new images, this time in the form of concept art. Taken from their July 22 Comic-Con issue, these two pieces of artwork offer a somewhat different look at the enormously popular Harley Quinn.
Despite what any stubborn purists may have to say, the look adopted by Margot Robbie in this film has already received a rather warm welcome. If merchandise flying off shelves at Hot Topic and other retailers weren’t proof enough, just ask the myriad of cosplayers I’ve seen emulating Robbie at comic book conventions, nightclubs and various other events that I’ve attended this year. It truly is the Summer of Harley.
But even though I’m perfectly fine with the end result, I can’t help but think these conceptual images look pretty cool. On the left, we see that Harley has opted to customize her assigned wardrobe at Belle Reve Penitentiary. From what we’ve seen in trailers, it looks like little to none of the communique she’s adorned it with actually made it into the film.
As for the image on the right, we can see there are definite similarities with the finished product, yet there are radical differences. Costume designer Kate Hawley claims they looked to the source material – in addition to rock icons and Instagram accounts for Mexican drug cartels – for inspiration and it really shows. To be quite honest, I would have preferred the top shown here as opposed to the “Daddy’s Li’l Monster” T-shirt because it pays tribute to comic books in recent years. Her makeup and wardrobe absolutely take more than a few cues from Adam Glass’ Suicide Squad: Kicked in the Teeth as well as Jimmy Palmiotti and Amanda Conner’s Harley Quinn series, which I happen to be a huge fan of.
Any way you slice it, the Clown Princess of Crime is sure to kick lots of butt and look good while doing it when Suicide Squad storms into theaters on August 5.
