It’s already been confirmed that Jared Leto’s Joker won’t be making an appearance in next month’s Birds of Prey (And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn), and now star Margot Robbie has revealed why Harley Quinn’s puddin’ is absent from the Suicide Squad spinoff.
“It was either going to be a complete Harley and Joker story or Joker has got to be out of the picture,” Robbie told Comic Book. “I really wanted to see Harley in a girl gang and I felt there was a huge gap in the market for a girl gang ensemble action film. I felt like no one was doing that and I couldn’t understand why, especially a comic book movie.”
Warner Bros. and DC Films were originally planning Joker vs. Harley Quinn movie as a potential DCEU release, with Glenn Ficarra and John Requa (This Is Us) attached to write and direct, but the brakes were applied when the decision was made to move ahead with Birds of Prey.
SEE ALSO: Why Birds of Prey looks like the comic book film to watch in 2020
Meanwhile, Joker’s DCEU future remains up in the air; while the Oscar-winning actor has said he remains open to a return, recent reports have claimed that Leto’s days as the Clown Prince of Crime are “likely over”, which wouldn’t be too surprising given how poorly his incarnation of the iconic Batman villain was received, not to mention the enormous success of last year’s Joaquin Phoenix-headlined Joker standalone movie.
Birds of Prey (And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) is a twisted tale told by Harley herself, as only Harley can tell it. When Gotham’s most nefariously narcissistic villain, Roman Sionis, and his zealous right-hand, Zsasz, put a target on a young girl named Cass, the city is turned upside down looking for her. Harley, Huntress, Black Canary and Renee Montoya’s paths collide, and the unlikely foursome have no choice but to team up to take Roman down.
Cathy Yan (Dead Pigs) is directing Birds of Prey (And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) from a script by Christina Hodson (Bumblebee) with Margot Robbie reprising her Suicide Squad role as Harley Quinn alongside Mary Elizabeth Winstead (Fargo) as The Huntress, Jurnee Smolett-Bell (Underground) as Black Canary, Rosie Perez (Fearless) as Renee Montoya, Ella Jay Basco (Grey’s Anatomy) as Cassandra Cain, Ewan McGregor (Christopher Robin) as Black Mask, Chris Messina (Sharp Objects) as Victor Zsasz, Ali Wong (Black Box), Robert Catrini (Jack Reacher: Never Go Back), Steven Williams (The Chi), Dana Lee (Dr. Ken), Francois Chau (The Expanse) and Matthew Willig (The Ballad of Buster Scruggs). It is set for release on February 7th 2020.
