‘Suicide Squad’: Harley Quinn To Be Bisexual In Spin-Off?
Harley Quinn, the breakout character from DC’s summer hit Suicide Squad, is coming to a TV set and movie screen near you — and she might just be ditching the Joker along the way.
As reported by the Hollywood Reporter, Margot Robie’s new first-look deal with Warner Bros. includes a Harley Quinn spin-off. And while it was first reported back in May, the news of the first-look deal confirms the project is underway.
Now, the Wrap is reporting that the Harley Quinn character will be also appear on the Fox hit Gotham this season, and the character’s backstory will be drastically different from the movie version.
“Gotham show runners have said that some version of Harley Quinn will come up on the show, and there’s a big clue in the season premiere that may be a clue as to her true identity.”
Warning: Spoilers ahead!
The Wrap is theorizing that said identity will be that of Barbara Kean (played by Erin Richards). As many comic book fans know, Barbara is the eventual wife of Jim Gordon. But because of events on the show, as writer Phil Owen speculates, Barbara’s arc could eventually find her wielding the baseball bat instead of the Bat Signal on the show.
“Barbara’s arc has been one of the most intriguing on Gotham because her comic book version is far more vanilla, marrying Jim and having a couple kids with him, one of whom would grow up to become Batgirl (in some stories Batgirl is Barbara and Jim’s niece, but the New 52 continuity, from which Gotham draws much of its basic lore, has them as her parents). But it’s hard to imagine that sequence of events playing out on “Gotham” after everything Barbara’s gone through so far.”
According to an interview with IGN, Gotham executive producers John Stephens and Ken Woodruff gave credence to the theory, hinting that viewers “may have already seen Harley as a person that you thought you had met and known for a long time.”
But that’s not the biggest news either. Maggie Geha, who plays Poison Ivy on Gotham, hinted that when Harley Quinn appears, she’ll also be noticeably different in her sexual preference from the movie version played by Robie.
“I would love, love, love, love to see Harley Quinn. In the comics she and Ivy and Harley Quinn are very close. In fact, I’m pretty sure in the comics they just formally announced that they’re girlfriends… I would love that. I hope they do one day. That would be great. It would be so much fun for me.”
Dani Di Placido of Forbes echoed that sentiment and hopes the same-sex storyline can also be featured in the upcoming Harley Quinn spin-off movie as well.
“In the current run of comics, Harley is close friends with fellow sinister sex symbol, Poison Ivy. In fact, it’s heavily implied that their friendship isn’t quite platonic. It’s possible that Harley’s spin-off could focus on, or feature, a romance between the two. This may appear like pandering to teenage boys, and it is, but introducing a same-sex relationship to a comic book film would be nothing short of groundbreaking.”
Regardless of who takes the mantle of Harley Quinn on TV and whether or not she’ll be dating the Joker or Poison Ivy, this has been a breakout year for a character that many comic-book fans have known and loved for decades. Similar to cult-fave Deadpool, Harley Quinn has seen her legion of fans grow since her debut on Batman: The Animated Series back in the 90s. Margot Robie’s turn as Harley in this summer’s Suicide Squad simply widened her exposure to the masses.
What do you think? Will the Harley Quinn spin-off feature a same-sex relationship with Poison Ivy? And who will the character’s identity be when she appears on Gotham?
[Featured Image by Warner Bros.]
