The Evolution of Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn
By Michael Ahr
Margot Robbie will reprise her role as Harley Quinn in The Suicide Squad, but how has the direction of her character changed since her debut?
When Robbie took on the notorious DC villain in 2016, she drew her inspiration from the character in Batman: The Animated Series and Karen Hill in Goodfellas.
But knowing that director James Gunn was a comic book fan, Robbie has drawn upon that aspect of Harley Quinn as well, making the character her own.
“She’s gone a bit beyond touchstones and she’s pretty fully formed in my mind,” says Robbie. “Now it’s just about exploring… different iterations of the comics and their storylines.”
Robbie’s production company, LuckyChap Entertainment, was attached to the Harley Quinn spin-off movie, Birds of Prey, adding another layer of investment in the character.
“There has been an interesting progression from when she was in a relationship with Mr. J in the first film, to... trying to be OK on her own and finding herself in Birds of Prey,” notes Robbie.
Robbie is looking forward to taking Harley Quinn into mission mode for The Suicide Squad with the chance for as many action scenes as she can handle.
Robbie told Gunn after one such sequence: “Guys always get to do this in movies and girls never get to. I finally felt like I got to have my war moment just then, and it was so cool.”
As for the future of Harley Quinn, Robbie hopes that her character will one day interact with Poison Ivy, her intimate companion from the comics.
“I would love to have Poison Ivy thrown into the universe, because the Harley and Poison Ivy relationship is one of my favorite aspects of the comics,” says Robbie.
Given Robbie’s active role in the DCEU both in front of and behind the camera, it seems likely that she’ll have plenty of say in where Harley Quinn goes from here.