Marvel Seems To Think Harley Quinn Is Just Ripping Off Deadpool

Harley Quinn has come a long way since she debuted as the Joker’s sidekick in Batman: The Animated Series. She quickly became a fan-favorite, with some of the best episodes of the show exploring her fractious relationship with Mr. J. It didn’t take too long for her to make the jump into the comics, eventually finding true mainstream popularity when Margot Robbie debuted as her in Suicide Squad.

Since then Quinn has had a comfortable spot as a Gotham A-lister. She’s a major focus of James Gunn’s impending The Suicide Squad and her incredibly fun HBO Max show is returning for a third season later this year. But that success seems to come with a side order of sour grapes, as it appears someone at Marvel thinks she’s just copying Deadpool.

It’s true that they both have a hyperviolent, irreverent sense of humor, and that both frequently break the fourth wall. Plus the tone of movies like Birds of Prey isn’t that dissimilar from the madcap antics of Deadpool.

These similarities didn’t go unnoticed on Twitter, where a thread asking for unpopular opinions about Harley Quinn got the response “WB is trying too hard to make her DC’s Deadpool,” a comment soon liked and retweeted by the official Marvel India account.

That was rapidly deleted, but the sentiment appears to be sincere enough. But hey, if Marvel wants to fight their corner on this they could have gotten Deadpool 3 into production a little sooner to get attention back onto the Merc with the Mouth. Sure it was nice to see him and Korg react to the Free Guy trailer recently, but it’s looking like we won’t see his next movie until 2023 or 2024.

In the meantime, The Suicide Squad is out on August 5, with the third season of Harley Quinn likely coming to HBO Max in late 2021. So c’mon Marvel, if you want a fight you’d better up your game.