Want to know why we, as female fans of comic book heroes, still have to fight for things? Just take a gander at the replies on James Gunn’s Instagram posts.
In comment on a recent Instagram post, one of Gunn’s followers accused Warner Bros. of forcing Harley Quinn into his new The Suicide Squad and speculated that Gunn must be “a little pissed” about it, according to Uproxx. But Gunn wasn’t having any of it, responding, “GTFO, she’s probably my favorite DC character, and Margot Robbie is probably the best actor I’ve ever worked with, bar none.”
While great and wonderful that James Gunn a) likes Harley Quinn and b) loves Margot Robbie, I’m more interested in the fact that we’re still facing backlash from supposed comic “fans” who cannot handle a woman being included in something. James Gunn did a great job of shutting that “fan” down, but it speaks to a larger issue.
Many believe studios are forcing women in their movies, especially comic book fans, and at that I have to laugh. Wonder Woman is coming up on her 80th anniversary, if we’re going to focus on DC comics, and got her first live-action movie in 2017. But, for commenters like the one Gunn responded to, there are too many instances of characters like Harley Quinn in things.
And sure, it could have been a comment on the fear of over-saturation of Harley specifically, but then again, no one ever said, “Wow, isn’t that enough Batman,” so like … let us have three movies with Harley in them. It’s a strange world we live in where Bruce Wayne/Batman has been in Batman v Superman, Suicide Squad, and Justice League, and there isn’t a comment about him being in too many movies, but Harley Quinn being in the same number of films? Too much!
I’m glad there are directors like James Gunn who shoot down comments like this because, frankly, if he ignored it, people would continue to blame studios for the inclusion of female characters. Let’s be honest, the only reason anyone says anything about characters like Batman or Spider-Man getting even more movies is because they’ve both had three separate franchises already.
So, shoutout to James Gunn for bringing us the Harley Quinn and Margot Robbie love. Because honestly? Same, dude. Same.
(via Uproxx, image: Warner Bros.)
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