The only good things to come of Suicide Squad is Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn and Viola Davis as Amanda Waller. We can—and probably will—pretend like the rest of that mess never happened, but Harley Quinn and Amanda Waller can stick around for the DC Extended Universe Mark II. There’s no word yet on if Davis will return in any future DC movies, but Margot Robbie will be back as Harley Quinn. Robbie hustled hard and pitched Harley spin-offs, including Birds of Prey and Gotham City Sirens. The latter is a way off—still not fully convinced it happens—but the former has officially gone into production, with Robbie as a producer and star. To mark the new beginning of Harley Quinn, a teaser for Birds of Prey was released, showing off a revamped and Joker-free Harley and her new pals, Huntress, Black Canary, and Renee Montoya.
I like Harley’s makeover. It’s still in the realm of Robbie’s original look, but it’s less…porny. This Harley looks like she’s ready for a rave. And it’s a little on the nose, but I do like that her streamer bolero thing looks like wings. (Birds of Prey—GET IT?) The subtitle of the film is And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn, which is STRAIGHT UP LUDICROUS, and no one will ever call it that, but, well, Harley does kinda look fantabulous. She’s over the top in the best possible way, like a club kid three days into the bender. I think Robbie really understood Harley as a solo character and not just the Joker’s moll, and also saw the potential for the character when you pair her up with other female characters—all of Harley’s best comics are when she’s working with other women. So I am excited to see what Robbie, along with director Cathy Yan, whom Robbie advocated for, do with Harley and the Birds of Prey.
Speaking of, if you don’t blink you can see Mary Elizabeth Winstead as Huntress, Jurnee Smollett-Bell as Black Canary, Rosie Perez as Renee Montoya, blonde Chris Messina as Victor Zsasz, Ewan McGregor as the villain Black Mask, and I think the person with the pink cast is supposed to be Cassandra Cain, played by Ella Jay Basco. If you watch DC television shows, some of these names should sound familiar. Huntress and Black Canary are on Arrow, and Renee Montoya is on Gotham, but this is where the double-casting really makes me feel bad, because in one split-second glance, Jurnee Smollett-Bell looks AMAZING and instantly blows anything Katie Cassidy ever got to do on Arrow out of the water. The budget just can’t compete. Also, in the teaser, they gave Black Canary a microphone, which is a cheeky fun touch (her power is her “canary cry”). So, super into the look of this, and can’t wait for a real trailer a few months down the road—I’m guessing Comic-Con for this one. The best part? NO THIRD BEST JOKER.
