Ever since the character was first introduced in Batman: The Animated Series almost 30 years ago before becoming an integral part of DC Comics canon, Harley Quinn has always been intrinsically linked to the Joker.
Sure, they’ve had their fallouts and disagreements on countless occasions in the decades since, but the Clown Prince of Crime and his beau always end up finding their way back to each other. However, it looks like that might not be the case in the DCEU, which is admittedly something we’ve seen coming for a long time.
In a new interview, Margot Robbie addressed her journey as the former Harleen Quinzell so far, with her third appearance in James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad releasing next month, and the actress hinted that she doesn’t need the Joker anymore.
“I think in the first Suicide Squad film she had a certain confidence and cockiness, knowing that she had the protection of the Joker. She was like, ‘I’ll go on this mission, and he’ll get me out of here in a second’. That was kind of her prerogative on that film. Then in Birds of Prey it was, ‘Oh sh*t, it’s a scary, cold world. Maybe I can’t do it’. In this film, time has passed, it doesn’t directly link to either of those films, but it’s not something that Harley is wrestling with anymore. She’s not waiting for Mr. J to show up and she’s not wondering if she can do it on her own. She knows.”
Of course, the bashing taken by David Ayer’s Suicide Squad probably has a lot to do with it as well. At one stage, Jared Leto’s Jester of Genocide was set to lend support in Ayer’s Gotham City Sirens and team up with Robbie for a Joker and Harley Quinn spinoff, but both projects found themselves abandoned as Warner Bros. and DC Films shifted course.
Birds of Prey split the two lovebirds up pretty definitively, and despite countless rumors to the contrary, there’s no word on whether or not Leto will be invited back into the fold on a more permanent basis after his well-received appearance in the epilogue of Zack Snyder’s Justice League. Robbie’s eventual solo outing may have bombed at the box office, but the two-time Academy Award nominee takes top billing in The Suicide Squad, and if she survives until the end credits, Harley Quinn will definitely be back again, with or without the Joker.
