Harley Quinn Co-Creator Discusses The Character's Look in SUICIDE SQUAD
You'll find no complaints from me regarding the new look of Margot Robbie's Harley Quinn in David Ayer's Suicide Squad. I love it! The character was a creation of Bruce Timm and Paul Dini, and she was introduced to the world 23 years ago on Batman: The Animated Series. She's sure come a long way since then.
Dini was recently a guest on the Shanlian On Batman podcast and he was asked about the new look of Harley, and he said it is “very much a real-world look.” He went on to say:
"Jared Leto’s version of that is almost like a decadent rockstar, and there’s a little bit of Sid and Nancy to the Joker and Harley look, which I always felt would not be a bad look if they were in a live-action movie."
I found a quote over at Forbes who pointed out that Harley's look in the film seems to have been inspired by one of the punk outfits of Blondie lead singer Debbie Harry (pictured below). Dini went on to say:
“I know it’s jarring to a lot of the people who love the classic Bruce Timm suit, I love it myself. But in that world [of the Suicide Squad movie], I just don’t see it happening. It’s a rougher, more street look. I think it works fine.”
Timm was asked about the new look of Harley a few months ago, and this was his reply:
"It was interesting. I was frankly a little nervous about what Harley would look like, but I thought she looked really cool. So I’m optimistic, we'll see.
"It’s funny, because she started off as just like a one joke idea and she’s gained all these different dimensions from all the stories we did, and the stuff that happens in the comics. I think bottom line the most important thing about her is that she’s funny. One way or the other regardless of what her backstory is, or whether she’s in an abusive relationship with the Joker, or if she’s off on her own, or hanging out with Poison Ivy, or whether she’s a villain or a hero. I think bottomline her stories always have to be fun, if not flat out hilarious (but that would be even better). That’s one of the things I like about the current comic. They understand that, they’re not treating her as another angsty bizarre superhero type character. She’s really weird and funny and kind of chaotic."
It's cool to hear the co-creators of this character backing the film's vision for the character. For the most part, fans seem to be happy with how Harley looks in the movie, and I'm excited to see her in action.
Suicide Squad will hit theaters on August 5th, 2016.