ALAMY, CAPITAL PICTURES, GETTY, PHOTOFEST, REX FEATURESthe fact she added somehumour to Batman’s
world, and expanded it a little bit. I liked writing
stories about her and putting her in episodes
where she it. I liked the character from the
get-go and hoped she would catch on.”
That she did. Although she pops up in
relatively few episodes ofBatman: The Animated
Series, Harley turned heads right away. Just
a year later, DC Comics started including the
character in some of their own titles. And then,
in 1994, they approached Dini and Timm with
an offer that would change the course of the
character forever, and lead to Robbie waltzing
away with a ilm just over two decades later.
THAT OFFER WASto produce a comic,
Mad Love, in the style ofThe Animated Series,
that wouldtackle Harley’s origin. It was
something Dinihadn’t given a great deal of
thought to but, “She couldn’t just be a girl that
went wrong that he keeps calling up every time
he escapes.”
From that sprang the idea — used inSuicide
Squad— that Harley Quinn was once Dr
Harleen Quinzel, a psychiatrist assigned to the
Joker during one of his stints at Arkham
Asylum. During that time, Dr Quinzel was
seduced — emotionally and mentally at the very
least — by the Joker, and fell in love with him. Or
was convinced she had fallen in love with him.
“The idea we liked a lot was that he had
somehow gotten into her head, snapped her and
brought her over to his point of view,” says Dini.
From the off, pretty much, it was clear
Harley was suffering at the hands of the Joker.
He constantly demeans her, belittles her, slaps
her. He even pushes her out of a window. And
yet she kept coming back for more, kept
excusing away his violence. Some critics have
argued Harley’s unblinking devotion to the
Joker reduces her to mere chattel, another
so-called strong woman who becomes nothing
more than a plaything at the hands of an
abusive man. But Dini, who was inspired by
what he saw happening in some friends’
relationships at the time, says he wanted to
shine a light on the plight of women trapped in
cycles of violence. In, don’t forget, a show
ostensibly aimed at younger viewers. “She was
an interesting character in that she did have this
tragiclaw, this weird co-dependency with the
Joker,” says Dini. “We were saying, ‘Hey, kids,
don’t be this. Watch out, this is the consequence
of hanging out with a maniac like the Joker.’ If
anything, it’s a cautionary story.”
In the comic books, Harley Quinn has long
since found the inner strength to move away from
the Joker. She’s more antihero now than villain, a
part of the Suicide Squad on the printed page
and someone who enjoys a polyamorous
relationship with Poison Ivy. (The seeds for which
were sown inThe Animated Series, principally
the episodeHarley & Ivy). Dini continues to
write for the character across media as varied
asArkham Asylum, the video game, and one-
off stories for DC Comics. But he has ceded
the character’s development on the printed
page to the likes of Amanda Conner and Jimmy
Palmiotti on theSuicide Squadongoing series,
believing he laid the foundation for that change.
“We gave her a place to grow from,” he says.
“The other writers who have taken over Harley
have acknowledged where she’s come from and
are keeping her evolution going.”
InSuicide Squad, with which Dini was
not involved, that evolution seemed to halt
somewhat, with the back-to-square-one iteration
of Harley Quinn attracting criticism from some
quarters. Throughout, she’s deined by her
relationshipwith the Joker, and even though Ayer
thriveswith notions of her breaking the cycle of
co-dependency, it ends with her being rescued
from prison by Mr J, her knight in purple shining
armour. “People say sheshould have walked out
on the Joker,” muses Dini. “The Joker was barely
in the movie. So even if he comes off as a
psychotic, murderous but ardent boyfriend, why
not show the two of them in love asthey run off
together? That way, the relationship has a place to
go — then the whole thing can sour and she can
move away from him.”
Perhaps wings will be spread the next time
we see Robbie as the character, whether that’s in
Suicide Squad 2or the solo movie on which she
is a producer. For one thing has been universal
— even if some have been unhappy with certain
aspects of Harley Quinn’s character or costume
inSuicide Squad, Robbie’s performance has
been acclaimed across the board. Like Robert
Downey Jr. and Tony Stark, or Hugh Jackman
and Wolverine, it seems one ofthose perfect
marriages of actor and comic-book character.
The playfulness. The willingness to embrace
the darkness lurking under the surface. The
vivacity. And, of course, the ability to take
a character that had been previously merely
popular (just ask Kevin Smith, who named
his daughter Harley Quinn), and turn her
into a phenomenon. The kind of phenomenon
that inspires people to dress up as Daddy’s
little monster. “There’s always going to be
supercilious inger-waggers and people who
are ready to shame anybody else for anything,”
says Dini. “But Harley is like a walking, smiling
middle inger to all those people. Harley’s gonna
do what she wants, she’s gonna look the way
she wants. That’s what people embrace.”
Needless to say, she had the last laugh.SUICIDE SQUAD EXTENDED CUT IS OUT NOW.What we said:“Like
Avengers Assembleforced
through aDeadpool
mangle,Suicide Squad
gives new life to DC’s
big-screen universe. So
bad-to-the-bone it’s good.”
Notable extras:Various
featurettes, including one
on Harley Quinn and the
Joker’s relationship.SUICIDE SQUAD
★★★★★
RATEDMTHE
From top to bottom:Co-creator Paul VERDICT
Dini; Margot Robbie as Dr Quinzel with
Jared Leto’s Joker;Batman: The
Animated Series’ red-and-black creation;
Cosplay Joker and Harley.