To say that David Ayer’s 2016 film, “Suicide Squad,” is a bit of a mess is an understatement. Honestly, describing the film as a “mess” is probably a bit of a compliment because many have called it far, far worse. Long story short, with the reports of rampant studio interference and barely any time for pre-production, Ayer’s film didn’t have much of a chance. The film, ultimately, suffered because of the aforementioned issues, particularly in fleshing out its characters beyond their garish, in-your-face introductions. And in the case of actress Margot Robbie, these issues meant that one of the key plot points of “Suicide Squad” never fully made sense to her.
Speaking to ScreenRant regarding her upcoming superhero film “Birds of Prey,” which finds Harley Quinn returning to the DC cinematic universe, Robbie talked about what surprised her most about the new film. However, to best describe her surprise, she mentioned something that always confused her about Harley Quinn’s role in “Suicide Squad,” namely the relationship with Jared Leto’s Joker.
“Not specifically reading the script because I was on the project before the script was written, so that kind of came together,” said Robbie. “I guess what’s always surprised me, or the thing… and I said this when publicizing ‘Suicide Squad,’ the first film, is that her relationship with Joker always did confuse me the most. That was the thing that took me the longest to get my head around.”
She added, “In this film though we’re exploring her not being with Joker. And I actually understand the break-up. That’s something I feel like everyone can kind of understand and relate to in some ways. Though she deals with–like she blows things up, I don’t do that. I understand the motivation that spurred on that train of thought.”
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For many fans, it’s refreshing to hear that the relationship between Joker and Harley was confusing even for one of the actors involved. However, even if “Suicide Squad” had all the time in the world, the romantic link between those characters might have still been confusing. Over the course of their respective comic book histories, the two characters have long been romantically involved, but the nature of their relationship has been filled with abuse, both mentally and physically, gaslighting, and a variety of other red flags. Needless to say, if you’re an adult that’s been in relationships in the past, trying to figure out why Harley would stay with Joker is a bit frustrating.
But thankfully, it appears that “Birds of Prey” is going to rectify this confusion by having Harley come into her own without Joker and forge a new path that isn’t reliant on being romantically involved with a homicidal clown.
“Birds of Prey” arrives in theaters on February 7, 2020.