There was a time when it looked as though Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn was going to stand right alongside Gal Gadot’s Wonder Woman as the DCEU’s marquee female character, as she was one of the main selling points of David Ayer’s Suicide Squad and had a lot of hype building up behind her franchise debut.
Unfortunately, however, the disappointing reaction from both fans and critics towards that film forced Warner Bros. to shift gears, with Jared Leto’s Joker quietly being swept under the rug (until recently, at least, given that he’s now returning for Zack Snyder’s Justice League). Of course, Robbie got to lead her own superhero blockbuster, but the results were underwhelming. Birds of Prey did fairly well with reviews, but a global tally of only $201 million means it’s officially the lowest-grossing entry in the DCEU.
Despite this, James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad is now hoping to thrust Harley Quinn firmly back into the spotlight, and the director has shared two new Empire magazine covers today that offer a look at the character’s updated costume, which we first saw at DC FanDome.
Of course, a fresh wardrobe doesn’t necessarily mean that Harleen Quinzel is all of the sudden going to find herself back at the forefront of the DCEU following the film’s debut, but it’s clear that Warner Bros. hasn’t given up on her just yet and with any luck, Gunn’s movie will help light a spark under the character again and recapture some of that popularity that she was riding heading into Suicide Squad back in 2016.
Regardless, The Suicide Squad certainly appears to be a step up from its predecessor and is without a doubt one of the DCEU’s most exciting future projects. And we’ll get to see it for ourselves when it drops into theaters on August 6th, 2021.