Of all the villains set to appear in Suicide Squad, none is more eagerly awaited than Margot Robbie's Harley Quinn. For this reason, it was no shock when we heard a standalone film was already in development. However, Robbie recently said the project was not a done deal and now we may know why. A new rumor says that Warner Bros. may be a little gun-shy, and they don't want to commit to anything with Harley until they're sure Suicide Squad is a hit.
The rumor comes courtesy of Daily Superhero, but as their source consists of somebody with a "connection with Warner Bros." we're going to call this a rumor in the strongest terms. Even they use the word rumor twice. Having said that, the talk is not at all a surprising one, which certainly makes it sound like it could be the real deal. Last week, Margot Robbie made the surprising admission that while she hoped to be able to make a Harley Quinn movie as a follow-up to Suicide Squad, she wasn't sure it would happen. This was an interesting statement because it seemingly confirmed that the Harley Quinn movie was something that had been, or was being, worked on - something that had never been officially confirmed. At the same time, it suggested something was standing in the way. According to the unnamed source, the studio is in a holding pattern because they want to make sure that the audience reaction to Suicide Squad, and the fan reaction to Harley Quinn specifically, is enough to justify a standalone film.
There're a couple of different ways to look at this. One is that this is simply pragmatism. Of course they're going to wait and see what happens with this movie first. Why in the world would they dedicate resources and millions of dollars to something that wasn't proven? This is Hollywood after all. This makes perfect sense and it's nothing to be concerned with.
Of course, on the other side of the coin, pretty much everything we've heard for the last several months is that Suicide Squad was the one sure thing that Warner Bros. has in its slate of upcoming DC Extended Universe titles. Even when rumors began to swirl that the studio wasn't so sure about Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice the word was they were still confident in Suicide Squad. So, does this mean that now the studio is less sure of the final product here?
The reality is probably somewhere in the middle. Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, while it made quite a bit of money, was not so well received by critics or fans. At the very least this may have made the studio a little nervous about greenlighting other projects. Even Ben Affleck's solo Batman movie has only recently been officially confirmed, and even it still doesn't have a release date. Even if they're mostly sure Suicide Squad will be good, they may feel they need the numbers the movie generates in order to justify future decisions.
What do you think about a Harley Quinn movie? Are you ready to buy a ticket now for the solo movie, or will you be waiting until Suicide Squad hits theaters Friday before you take a stance? Hit the comments below with your thoughts!
