James Gunn addresses Margot Robbie’s future as Harley Quinn in DCU
DC StudiosDC Studios co-chair and co-CEO James Gunn recently weighed in on whether Margot Robbie will reprise the Harley Quinn role again.
Robbie first portrayed Harley Quinn in 2016’s Suicide Squad. She then headlined spin-off team-up flick Birds of Prey in 2020.
Birds of Prey was followed by 2021’s The Suicide Squad, written and directed by Gunn. A standalone sequel, it nevertheless brought back Robbie and several of her original Suicide Squad co-stars.
In the years since then, Gunn and The Suicide Squad producer Peter Safran have taken over DC Studios and are now revamping (and recasting) the DCU – throwing doubt on Robbie’s return.
James Gunn addresses Margot Robbie’s future as Harley Quinn in DCU
Yet Gunn recently left the door open for Robbie to mount a DCU comeback, in a post on Threads. According to the filmmaker-turned-studio-mogul, there are currently no plans to replace Robbie as the DCU’s Harley Quinn.
“I haven’t talked to Margot about Harley for a long time,” Gunn wrote. “But I’d love to work with her again as Harley or as someone else. There are no plans at this time for anyone else to play Harley (I mean, other than in Todd’s movie or the animated show/s.)”
The “Todd” Gunn refers to is Joker director Todd Phillips, whose in-development follow-up, Folie à Deux, stars Lady Gaga as Harley. That said, Gunn previously clarified that the Joker movies (along with Matt Reeves’ The Batman and its sequel) take place in their own, separate continuities.
Gunn’s Threads post also pays lip service to the popular Harley Quinn animated adult comedy, in which Kaley Cuoco voices the madcap antihero. Again, this series – now entering its fifth season – isn’t part of the DCU proper.
Is Margot Robbie done playing Harley Quinn?
It’s worth noting that Robbie herself isn’t necessarily lobbying for another Harley Quinn outing. On the contrary, the Aussie actor signaled that she was done with the role in a recent Variety interview.
“I always wanted Harley to be a character that would get passed on to other actresses to play,” Robbie said. “The way there are so many iconic male characters. That was always the dream for her.
“Harley’s so fun and can go in so many different directions. You put her in someone else’s hands, and it’s like, ‘What are they going to do with her?’ The options are endless.”
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