HARLEY QUINN Movie with DC's Female Characters in Development


Another round of Harley Quinn vs. the Birds of Prey?  Maybe.

The Hollywood Reporter has revealed that Warner Bros. is considering a spinoff of the upcoming film adaptation of Suicide Squad with Margot Robbie returning as fan-favorite Harley Quinn.

According to the article, Robbie would also produce the untitled spinoff, which would also feature several of DC Comics' female superheroes and supervillains.  The project has a female screenwriter, and while details are sketchy at this point, Batgirl and the Birds of Prey may be involved somehow.

The article also claims that Robbie was the driving force for the project.  Apparently, when she landed the part for Suicide Squad, she heavily researched the comics to learn as much as possible about the character.  In the process, she reportedly became a fan of DC’s female characters.  Robbie brought on the female writer to help develop the project and brought it to Warner Bros.

Created in 1992 by Paul Dini and Bruce Timm, Harley Quinn first appeared in the Batman: The Animated Series episode "Joker's Favor," voiced by Arleen Sorkin.  Initially intended as a female sidekick for The Joker, Harley quickly became popular with fans and the character was developed further.  In the 1994 DC Comics graphic novel The Batman Adventures: Mad Love, Quinn received her origin story, revealing her as Dr. Harleen Quinzel, a psychiatrist at Arkham Asylum who fell in love with the Joker and turned to a life of crime in order to be with him.

The character's first comic book appearance was in 1993's The Batman Adventures #12, but Harley's growing popularity encouraged DC Comics to bring her into official Batman canon starting with Batman (vol.1) #570 in 1999.  She soon received her first ongoing series in 2001 that ran for 38 issues and was made a member of the Suicide Squad starting with 2011's Suicide Squad (vol.3) #1.  Harley received her second ongoing series in 2013, which still continues to be a Top Ten book in terms of sales.

If Harley faces off or teams up with the Birds of Prey, this will be their second on-screen encounter, after Mia Sara portrayed Harley Quinn on the 2002-03 Birds of Prey television series as the Big Bad for the series' single season.

Posted on May 16, 2016 .