Even though Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn is one of the DCEU’s most popular and recognizable characters, critics and audiences have been giving off mixed signals towards any project the fan favorite has appeared in, at least until James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad blasted onto the scene to ride a wave of overwhelmingly positive enthusiasm.
Robbie was singled out as a highlight of David Ayer’s Suicide Squad, which made a ton of money at the box office but found itself panned by critics. She then went on to produce and headline Birds of Prey, which gained instant cult status and strong reviews, but flopped after barely scraping past $200 million globally.
In between those two points, Ayer’s Gotham City Sirens and a spinoff alongside Jared Leto’s Joker that had Focus and Game Night duo John Requa and Glen Ficarra attached to write and direct both fell apart, but the former Harleen Quinzell is back with a vengeance in The Suicide Squad.
Robbie recently backtracked on her claims that she would take a break from the character, admitting she’s raring to go again already despite shooting Birds of Prey and The Suicide Squad back-to-back from January 2019 right through to February 2020. In a new interview, Gunn was asked if he’d be interested in helming her next solo project, and he’s definitely down with the idea.
“I really feel that character, and as I’ve said before, I’ve taken a lot of characters from the comic books who either have slightly different personalities or not as clearly defined personalities. I’ve really shied away from the really popular characters because I like creating characters. I don’t generally like interpreting characters that are already fully actualized, but with Harley, that was a different thing. I really do love Paul Dini’s original vision, and I felt like I was able to become Harley while I was writing. And it’s a terrible, wonderful place to be.”
After Birds of Prey bombed, Robbie acknowledged that a sequel wasn’t going to happen. However, looking at how The Suicide Squad turned out with Gunn given free rein, if he said hew wanted to helm a Harley Quinn adventure then Warner Bros. and DC Films would surely be more than happy to give him exactly what he wants.
