Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn has essentially become the DC movies’ Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man; the character has largely become synonymous with her portrayal. And even if you don’t quite agree with that comparison, you have to admit that Harley is indisputably one of the main characters of the franchise at this point. She’s been a central character in three movies, and despite the general disjointedness of the franchise, she’s managed to have an amazing arc of breaking away from the Joker’s abuse and living her best life.
Despite going through so much in Suicide Squad, Birds of Prey, and now The Suicide Squad, it feels like Harley’s run in the DCEU is just getting started. With more and more new characters being added to the franchise each year, there are tons of team-up possibilities for her. She’s had some great interactions in the comics with the likes of Wonder Woman and, of course, Batman, and has even been the head of her own “Gang of Harleys.” However, there’s one Harley-centric DC comic run that’s been in the mix for a live-action adaptation for several years now that has yet to come to fruition.
Centered on a trio consisting of Catwoman, Poison Ivy, and Ms. Harley Quinn herself, Gotham City Sirens seems like a natural choice for the DCEU, as it would not only provide a next chapter for Harley, but the opportunity to introduce some well-known DC characters to the film franchise. Poison Ivy has yet to appear in a live action DC movie since 1995’s Batman Forever, and Catwoman’s upcoming portrayal by Zoë Kravitz in The Batman would give a potential GCS creative team some interesting options; they could bring over Kravitz, incorporating some multiversal shenanigans—akin to what we will probably be seeing in The Flash movie—given that The Batman will take place in a different DC universe, or bring an all-new iteration of Catwoman to the DCEU.
Regardless of the route Warner Bros. would ultimately go in handling the Catwoman situation, Gotham City Sirens could be a great way to explore the idea of a villain-centric group in the DCEU in a form other than the Suicide Squad (a name which general audiences are still skeptical of, even half a decade after the widely disliked first film’s release) and an all-female team to the franchise. Birds of Prey was a lot of fun, but it definitely focused more on Harley Quinn than the Birds themselves, even though they were pretty well-developed for the relatively short amount of screentime they had. This was especially an issue with the film’s marketing; there are ways of drawing non-comic book fans into watching a movie starring less “mainstream” comic book characters, but the Birds of Prey advertising unfortunately didn’t do a great job with that.
With just three main characters (assuming the core team stays the same as the comics), a Gotham City Sirens movie would have plenty of time to give each of its leads their deserved screentime, and for each member’s relationship to each of the others to be explored. It would likely also be easier to hook audiences on the new characters than Birds of Prey or The Suicide Squad, because Catwoman is one of DC’s most well-known characters and people have been waiting to see Poison Ivy make her DCEU debut for years.
(Warner Bros.)
But what would all of this mean for Harley? At this point in the franchise, she’s sort of toeing the line between hero and villain, so it’s possible that would be more deeply explored for her, as well as the other members of the trio. After all, Catwoman is notorious for her antiheroism, and Poison Ivy’s whole thing is her environmental-based motivations in her schemes. The pull between good and evil could be an interesting thing to explore in a Gotham City Sirens project, especially if the members flip-flop between loyalties. And it would certainly be interesting to see Harley as part of a team of badass ladies for an entire movie, as opposed to just the final act of Birds of Prey.
Perhaps the thing many fans are most hoping to see from a potential GCS movie, though, is a romantic relationship between Harley and Poison Ivy. This is something that has been explored in multiple DC comic runs, including Gotham City Sirens itself and the current Harley Quinn animated series. This would not only result in some much-desired WLW representation in the DCEU, but also a chance for audiences to see how Harley fares in a new romance with someone who isn’t abusive towards her. As Harley herself admits in The Suicide Squad, she hasn’t had the best of luck with men, but maybe a relationship with a woman like Ivy could be a welcome new chapter for her romantic life.
Margot Robbie claimed to need a break from Harley Quinn after filming The Suicide Squad, but recently said she’s ready to play her again. A Gotham City Sirens movie would be a great way to bring the character back while also providing the DCEU with some new characters and world-building.
So what are you waiting for, WB? Make it happen already!
(featured image: DC Comics)
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