I love your accent.
American women all love accents.
We do because we don't got none.
There are some superhero characters
that are cast so perfectly that you just can't see anyone else
inhabiting the role, Robert Downey, Jr. as Iron Man,
Christopher Reeve as Superman, and Margot Robbie as Harley
Quinn.
She's a perfectly cast actor, bringing her character
to life in a way that just about eclipses
everything else in the DCEU.
And yet, a character's portrayal is only as good as the writing.
And no matter how good Margot Robbie is,
there was a key juncture in the life
of the character on celluloid that
almost permanently sent things spiraling out of control.
Seriously, what the hell is wrong with you people?
We're bad guys.
It's what we do.
September 11, 1992 saw the first appearance of Harley Quinn,
created by Paul Dini and Bruce Timm for Batman
the Animated Series, in the episode Joker's Favor.
Originally envisioned as a sidekick to the Joker,
the character grew in popularity over the ensuing 30 years
to become arguably one of the most important characters
in all of DC canon.
She's appeared in a mountain of comics,
video games and her own spinoff animated show.
However, most importantly for the parent company
that owns her, she's one of only a few characters
that really worked in the initial phase of the DCEU.
Despite never having been a member
of the team in the comics, Harley
was placed onto the roster of David Ayer's less than stellar
Suicide Squad.
Hi, boys, Harley Quinn.
While the film pulled in roughly $750 million at the box office,
it was saddled with heavy critique and a deeply mixed fan
reaction.
A large percentage of this was due to extensive reshoots
and re-edits due to WB attempting
to pivot the tone of the movie at the 11th hour
after seeing the runaway success of Guardians of the Galaxy.
However, the element of the project
that was universally praised was Robbie's performance
in the film.
Overnight, Harleen Quinzel was the centerpiece of the DCEU.
Now remember, at this point, the universe
was being steered by Zack Snyder, which
had its own baggage.
Suicide Squad was the first movie
to be produced away from his direct auteur viewpoint,
and people were instantly clamoring
for more Harley Quinn.
We just saved the world.
A thank you would be nice.
WB was trying to decide what to do with her next.
They knew they had a hit on their hands,
they just didn't exactly know how to handle Harley.
Should she get her own solo film?
Should she be brought back in another Suicide Squad film?
Maybe put her on another team, where she could be the leader.
Once they decided to ostensibly choose D, all of the above,
WB went right to the source.
They brought Margot Robbie into the fold as a producer
and asked her to develop a vehicle for Harley, as well
as getting her to agree to appear in a Suicide Squad
sequel at some point.
This resulted in two possible directions, a Gotham City
Sirens project or a Birds of Prey project.
Gotham City Sirens is usually a supervillain hangout book
that features Catwoman, Poison Ivy, and Harley
going on adventures together.
Birds of Prey, on the other hand,
is a long running and beloved bat family superhero
book that usually features Black Canary, Oracle, and Huntress,
and an assortment of other women vigilantes from around the DCU
fighting crime.
But you know who's not on that team?
Harley Quinn.
So which of these two projects did Margot Robbie pick?
How could they collectively build on the success
that they'd established with her character
as a fast-talking, zany criminal in Suicide Squad?
Something tells me a whole lot of people are about to die.
How could they take her character to the next level,
really give her the spotlight she deserved?
Well, she selected the Birds of Prey
as the vehicle to accomplish all of these tasks.
The approach that the film takes to integrating Harley
into the team is actually really ingenious.
It establishes the recognizable cast of characters
quickly and effectively.
However, it keeps most of the plot and internal momentum
of the story surrounding Harley.
The structure and the style of the movie
feels almost pitch perfect for a Harley Quinn vehicle.
Is it a great Birds of Prey movie?
Well, maybe not, but it's a really fun Harley movie.
We should order pizza, make cosmos.
Harley, focus.
OK, yeah.
Unfortunately, the script makes one crucial error
with her characterization.
The film comes dangerously close to breaking
the character of Harley by pushing her too far.
She's basically Deadpool.
How do I be like you except for the crazy part?
Number one, no one is like me.
There's a difference between trying
to emulate the successful aspects of Deadpool's character
and just grafting whole cloth Deadpool
attributes on to Harley.
They decided to lean into the irreverent, self-aware,
comedic, anti-villain archetype, and that alone probably
would have been fine.
The only problem is that Deadpool had just
come out in 2016.
His specific brand of comedy and character archetype
was fresh in everyone's mind.
He's a hyper-violent merc, loves chimichangas,
and has a very specific ditzy sense of humor.
And for Birds of Prey, they pivoted Harley
as being a hyper violent vigilante who
loves breakfast sandwiches and has a very specific ditzy
sense of humor.
Psychologically speaking, vengeance rarely
brings the catharsis we hope for.
There's jokes in the film that, if you just find and replace
breakfast sandwiches with chimichangas,
are exactly Deadpool jokes.
If you want boys to respect you, you
have to show them that you're serious.
Blow something up.
Shoot someone.
The film also cribs from Deadpool in its joke structure.
It all just reads exactly like something Deadpool would do.
Released in 2020, just prior to the lockdowns,
the film pulls in roughly $200 million
of a budget of $82 million, which, from the WB's
perspective, was a flop.
Thankfully, WB knew what they had in Harley Quinn
so they decided to double down.
In almost back to back productions,
Harley appeared in James Gunn's the Suicide Squad.
Hey, guys, sorry I'm late.
Had to go number two.
Good to know.
And surprising to no one, Harley is the standout element
of the film.
This version of the character takes the best
of what did work in Birds of Prey
and the charisma on display in the original Suicide Squad
and combines them for a nearly pitch perfect Harley story.
She's still there driving plot, which is what DC wants,
but she's able to share the weight.
And the sequences of the film that are from her perspective,
like the fight scene of her escaping all the Corto
Maltesian guards, feel unique and not just a
watered down version of another iconic anti-villain.
Gunn's version of Harley gets the characterization balance
perfect.
Yes, you have the pithy dialogue--
We find out you have personalized license plates,
you die.
What?
No.
Ditzy nature of the character, and still over-the-top
antics that Birds of Prey was shooting for,
but it's masked enough in New visual ideas
that it really feels organic to the character.
The Suicide Squad version of the character
has many of the same attributes that the Birds of Prey version
did, but they're better integrated and camouflaged
into the story.
It's a more holistic approach to moving the character along.
She's simultaneously driving action,
and we're seeing the action through her over-the-top lens.
They don't ever come out and say it,
but in her gorgeously-rendered, flower-fueled fight scene,
it's the perfect balance of Bugs Bunny and homicidal maniac.
It's a perfect use of the character's personality
represented visually.
They killed Milton.
Who's Milton.
What?
I don't remember any Milton.
Oh, that guy, Milton, Milton.
Ultimately, when you're building a character for the big screen
that's had so many iterative versions like Harley,
you need a clear vision from the creators.
The fact that Margot Robbie took Harley and propelled her
into being arguably the most recognizable character
in the DCEU era of live action films
is a testament to her commitment and talent as a performer.
It's easy to understand why Birds of Prey
tried to push Harley so far in the Deadpool direction.
However, the true secret to her success
is building Harley stories, not Deadpool stories
where the main character is just named Harley.
Sure, they both have mental health issues
and come from tragic backgrounds,
but the way a one-time psychologist who
has a pattern of falling into co-dependent relationships
is going to handle things is the line that really
separates the characters.
Even though there have been no announced plans
for where or when Margot Robbie is going to show up again
as Harley, it's a certainty that she absolutely will.
Well, that's it for today's episode.
What do you think?
What's the DC property that you think Harley Quinn will pop up
in next?
And of course, please subscribe to the Nerdstalgic channel
in order to stay up to date with everything we got going on.
[MUSIC PLAYING]