James Gunn Says It Was A Privilege To Write Harley Quinn

When Warner Bros. swooped in to pick up James Gunn in the wake of his firing from the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, he was offered the chance to tackle any property of his choosing. With complete creative freedom at his hands, it was no surprise that Gunn opted for another dysfunctional band of misfits via The Suicide Squad.

One of the only major notes that the studio gave the filmmaker was to make sure that Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn was included in the script, which Gunn accepted willingly. Not only does the actress take top billing in the cast, but she arguably gets the movie’s standout action sequence when she stages a one-woman prison break in spectacularly violent fashion.

Gunn has hardly been shy when it comes to voicing his appreciation for both the character and Robbie, admitting that he’d love to take a crack at another solo film for the Joker’s former beau—even if Birds of Prey and The Suicide Squad hardly set the box office alight. In a new interview, the Scooby-Doo writer described the chance to script the character as a privilege.

“I felt excited, man. I love the character of Harley Quinn. I love Paul Dini’s original Harley Quinn. I think she’s one of the most well-written comic book characters of all time and consistently well-written, not always, but a lot. Being able to speak in her voice and to write for her was a privilege, but I also felt incredibly comfortable doing it.

She isn’t a James Gunn character, because I didn’t create her in the same way I created Ratcatcher II, or even King Shark in some ways. But she is totally a James Gunn character in that I get her. She isn’t so different from Boltie in Super. So it’s like, I love her character, I love who she is, and I felt extremely comfortable making this the most Harley of all Harley’s that have been on the movie screen.”

Robbie is raring to go as Harley Quinn again already, despite shooting Birds of Prey and The Suicide Squad back-to-back. But it remains to be seen where Quinn and Task Force X go from here. Gunn wants to stick around the DCEU, and given he clearly loves the character, maybe he’ll continue working with Harley and crew for whatever he ends up signing on to next. That admittedly won’t be for a while due to his MCU commitments, however.