Dr. Harleen Frances Quinzel, later known as Harley Quinn, is a fictional character in the DC Extended Universe (DCEU), based on the character of the same name created by Paul Dini and Bruce Timm as a comic relief henchwoman for the supervillain Joker in the DC Animated Universe (DCAU) animated series Batman: The Animated Series (1992–1995) and later adapted to the DC Universe. Portrayed by actress Margot Robbie, she first appears in film in Suicide Squad (2016), playing a major role, and also stars in the spin-off solo film Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) (2020) and standalone sequel film The Suicide Squad (2021).
She is first depicted as Joker's psychiatrist in prison, then later his lover and partner in crime, before going off on her own misadventures in her DCEU appearances. Her introduction sequence in Suicide Squad mentions her as an accomplice and directly responsible for the murder of Batman's sidekick Robin. Robbie's portrayal of Harley Quinn has received widespread critical acclaim.
Development and portrayal Origins, casting and execution Harley Quinn was a late addition to the lineup of DC Entertainment supervillains, making her debut in the 1990s as a love interest to the Joker in Batman: The Animated Series. Nonetheless, she has become one of DC's most popular characters, especially as she has become an additional foil to Joker's character aside from Batman, and she later became a full-fledged character in the comics. Though originating as a supervillain, Harley, much like Catwoman, has been gradually developed as an antiheroine in later comic storylines. She has appeared in numerous adaptations of DC Comics storylines, being voiced by Arleen Sorkin in the DC Animated Universe (DCAU) and other actresses such as Tara Strong and Kaley Cuoco in the adult animated series based on the character.
Australian actress Margot Robbie was cast to portray Harley Quinn in the DC Extended Universe (DCEU), beginning with 2016's Suicide Squad, first being offered the role in October 2014. Robbie stated that it took three hours to prepare her hair, makeup and costume for the role and "at least 45 minutes" to take it off. In addition, Joker actor Jared Leto surprised Robbie by gifting her a black rat during filming. Despite her initial shock, Robbie kept the rat as a pet, according to Amanda Waller actress Viola Davis.
Following the financial success of the film, Warner Bros. announced a female-centered spinoff of the film which would eventually become 2020's Birds of Prey, with Robbie reprising her role for that film and serving as a producer. Robbie had pitched the film to Warner Bros. in 2015 as "an R-rated girl gang film including Harley, because I was like, 'Harley needs friends.' Harley loves interacting with people, so don't ever make her do a standalone film." Robbie felt it was important for the film to have a female director. While Warner Bros. and DC Films had various other Harley Quinn-oriented films in development, Birds of Prey was the only one with whose development Robbie was directly involved.
Robbie reprised her role as Harley Quinn in 2021's The Suicide Squad, a standalone sequel to the 2016 film. She was one of four actors from the original film to reprise their roles.
Themes and characterization
In an analysis of the character by The Perspective, Harley Quinn is seen as both a ruthless villain undeserving of sympathy and a tragic character. While some of her deeds, such as murdering Jason Todd with Joker and the lawyers that put her boyfriend in prison, torturing Batman, and robbing a store "just for fun" in Suicide Squad, are inexcusable, Harley is also constantly manipulated by Joker, with many of her crimes serving simply to get Joker to "love" her, a hallmark of one-sided, abusive relationships. In addition, Harley is arguably objectified in the film, with many of her outfits being extremely revealing. While being interviewed on her role in Suicide Squad, Robbie described Quinn as one of the Squad's most manipulative members, and her relationship with Joker as "incredibly dysfunctional", adding that Quinn is, "mad about him—like, literally, mad. She's crazy. But she loves him. And it's a really unhealthy, dysfunctional relationship. But an addictive one." David Ayer's original version of Suicide Squad would have shown more of Joker and Harley's abusive relationship and contrasted it with a budding, healthier romance with Task Force X teammate Floyd Lawton / Deadshot.
Harley's portrayal in Birds of Prey was designed to further develop her character independently of the Joker's influence, as mentioned by screenwriter Christina Hodson. Hodson called Harley the character she enjoyed developing most due to her unpredictable personality. The film also reveals Harley was abandoned by her alcoholic father, has had malevolent tendencies even before her encounter with Joker, and that she has had her "heart broken by both men and women" in the film's introduction, confirming her bisexuality as in the original comics.
Quinn has also been noted for her use of a baseball bat as a weapon throughout the films, with some outlets even referring to it as a trademark of the character. During the filming of Suicide Squad, Robbie accidentally hit herself in the face with a prop baseball bat, with the actress also keeping one of the bats after filming ended. Quinn also fights with a mallet throughout Suicide Squad.
Fictional character biography Early life and meeting the Joker
Harleen Quinzel was abandoned by her alcoholic father at a young age and frequently got in trouble with the law. She later became a psychiatrist and, as one of her first cases, works with the Joker (Jared Leto) during his incarceration in Arkham Asylum. The Joker gradually seduces Quinzel and gets her to fall madly in love with him. He later persuades her to release him, subjecting her to shock therapy in retaliation for her using it on him, and manipulating her into jumping into a vat of the same chemicals that disfigured him to prove her love for him. The chemicals bleach her skin and dye her hair just as they did the Joker's, and drive her just as insane as he is. The duo become partners in crime and, as Amanda Waller (Viola Davis) puts it, the "King and Queen of Gotham City".
Harley and Joker carry out numerous crimes, such as murdering Batman's (Ben Affleck) protégé, Robin. Soon afterwards, Batman tracks down the couple in the Joker's Lamborghini, causing them to crash, and he captures Harley while Joker escapes.
Capture and enlistment into Task Force X
Now imprisoned in an electrified cage at Belle Reve Penitentiary, Harley regularly antagonizes and attacks the prison guards. Waller recruits Harley and several other incarcerated metahumans and criminals, including Deadshot (Will Smith), Captain Boomerang (Jai Courtney), Killer Croc (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje), El Diablo (Jay Hernandez), and Slipknot (Adam Beach), into a task force called the Suicide Squad after the U.S. government reluctantly gives her permission. The squad is quickly put to use after one of Waller's intended recruits, Enchantress (Cara Delevingne), goes rogue, and are put under the command of Rick Flag (Joel Kinnaman) and his bodyguard, Katana (Karen Fukuhara). The squad's members do not get along at first and are reluctant to go along with orders until Slipknot is executed by a bomb planted in his neck for trying to escape.
The Joker discovers Harley's predicament and blackmails a prison guard into revealing her location, in addition to forcing an A.R.G.U.S. scientist to disable her bomb. Meanwhile, Harley bonds with Deadshot and annoys Flag with her antics while fighting Enchantress's minions in Midway City. The Joker then arrives in a helicopter to rescue Harley, but one of Waller's guards shoots down the chopper. Harley jumps out of the aircraft before it crashes, leading to the Joker's apparent death. After Waller is captured by Enchantress's minions and Deadshot discovers the true reason for the mission, the squad realizes they must face Enchantress and her brother Incubus (Alain Chanoine) alone and head to a bar to drown their sorrows. Flag reveals that Enchantress's human alter ego, Dr. June Moon, was his girlfriend prior to being possessed, and frees the convicts, but they decide to help him after bonding over drinks.
The squad locates Enchantress and Incubus at a partially flooded subway station. Killer Croc and several Navy SEALs plant a bomb underneath Incubus, while El Diablo sacrifices himself to detonate it, destroying Incubus. Enchantress defeats the remaining squad members and entices them to join her in exchange for granting them their deepest desires; Harley's desire is for the Joker to settle down and start a family with her. Harley feigns interest in order to get close enough to cut out Enchantress's heart with Katana's sword, then aids Deadshot and Flag in defeating Enchantress and freeing June. Waller rewards Harley with 10 years off her life sentence and an espresso machine. Shortly afterward, the Joker, who survived the crash, breaks into Belle Reve with his henchmen and frees Harley.
Breakup with Joker and "emancipation"
Four years after the events of Suicide Squad, the Joker breaks up with Harley and leaves her in the streets of Gotham City. After she finds refuge with Doc (Dana Lee), a restaurant owner, she copes with the breakup by cutting her hair, picking up roller derby, and adopting a spotted hyena which she names after Bruce Wayne. After getting drunk at a bar and encountering Roman Sionis / Black Mask (Ewan McGregor) and Dinah Lance (Jurnee Smollett), the latter of whom rescues her from abduction, Harley goes to Ace Chemicals to blow up the facility as a way to publicly announce her separation from the Joker. GCPD detective Renee Montoya (Rosie Perez) arrives at the scene while investigating mob killings, finding Harley's necklace and noting her vulnerability without the Joker's protection. Soon enough, Harley finds herself constantly under attack from people she and/or the Joker had wronged in the past.
Upon pickpocket Cassandra Cain (Ella Jay Basco) stealing a diamond embedded with the account numbers to the fortune of the massacred Bertinelli crime family, Sionis kidnaps Harley and forces her to track down Cassandra in exchange for her life. Harley locates Cassandra in GCPD custody and breaks her out using a variety of fireworks, and the two later bond while hiding in Doc's restaurant. However, the apartment is bombed by a criminal resentful of Harley. Doc, who had been contacted by assassin Helena Bertinelli / Huntress (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) for information on Cassandra, tells Harley that he had sold her out for a large sum of money, forcing her to flee with Cassandra. Harley renegotiates her deal with Sionis, offering to turn Cassandra and the diamond (which the latter had swallowed) over in exchange for his protection and agreeing to meet at an abandoned amusement park.