Why Margot Robbie is Both Right and Wrong for Not Including The Joker

DCEU's Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) is nearly upon us. The marketing is in full swing and Margot Robbie spoke recently on the film, confirming the lack of Jared Leto's Joker from Suicide Squad.

It was either going to be a complete Harley and Joker story or Joker has got to be out of the picture. I really wanted to see Harley in a girl gang and I felt there was a huge gap in the market for a girl gang ensemble action film. I felt like no one was doing that and I couldn't understand why, especially a comic book movie.

There is much to be said about this statement I feel. I feel she is right for leaving out The Joker, but that it does create some problems.

The Rights

No doubt, there is still a lack of female representation in the comic book movies. Yes, we have Wonder Woman, with a sequel on the way. Meanwhile, the same goes for DC's competitor with Captain Marvel. Yet, all of these team-up films are still largely male driven. Black Widow finally gets a film long after the Avengers and after the character is dead. Face it, this is essentially a spin-off from the Avengers franchise. Captain Marvel exists on her own. Yes, Wonder Woman first appears in Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice but that film is not heavily required to watch her own film. Plus, there were plans since that film to have Wonder Woman in her own picture.

Thanks to conservative die-hard comic fans, many are okay with this bias. Not only that, they are already turning their nose up at this film and the premise. Many still want Harley Quinn as basically Joker's little sidekick/girlfriend/emotional and physical punching bag. No quarter is given for the character to grow and expand, to identify as an actual individual character rather than just as a supporting character to an already eighty-year-old established iconic villain. If anything, this is a chance to bring a new market to help grow comic books and all of its characters to even greater heights. One cannot deny that this film will most likely be a hit. What's next - a solo film for Black Canary? Huntress? Maybe we can do Gotham City Sirens next. Take note that Marvel will be watching and will want to corner this market as well. We can get Brian Wood's X-Men which featured an entire female cast led by Storm or even A-Force! I personally, even a white, cisgender male am frankly tired of the boys' club on screen.

The Wrongs

Leaving out the Joker does leave some story-telling problems. Why does she break up with The Joker? Hopefully the film will answer this. However, I feel many will already turn a bias towards this based off of their own preconceived history of the comics, Batman: The Animated Series and even her own series as well. Yet, we cannot go strictly off of that for answers in a film that exists outside of all those stories. Yes, those stories do certainly influence and inspire the film, but they do not inform the film. Plus, what do audiences who are not informed supposed to say, do or know? Do you expect them to go off and get caught up? One must not do that in order to truly understand a movie.

What I find most problematic though in whatever the reasoning for the break-up is Jared Leto's portrayal of Joker in Suicide Squad. No, I do not mean to critique and bash his performance as many expect or desire me to. We need to remember and understand there are two distinct versions of David Ayer's film. Say what you will about their abusive relationship in past mediums, the Joker I dare say is...less heinous than previous versions. Yes, you have his scene with her at Arkham and leaving her behind in the car for Batman to capture. Yet, he makes two attempts at rescuing her. Near the end of the film he tracks her down, in a helicopter, de-activates her neck bomb and frees her from the grip of Amanda Waller. Sadly, things go south. Afterwards, he breaks into Belle Reeve to free her. Think about the time, money, effort and manpower that goes into both of these operations. I recall the episode Joker's Millions where Harley is patiently waiting in Arkham for him to get her out. Instead, he just hires a new Harley, albeit a lackluster replacement. Miss Quinn did not take this lightly at all.

Now again, there are two versions of the film. You have seen the images I am sure. One with him all burnt up with a grenade. This is even present in the trailer. Originally, he gets the helicopter and pushes Harley Quinn out to her death. Odd, go through all of that work just to kill her. The scene with the grenade he shows up to take Harley in but rejects him in favor of her new family. He throws the grenade telling buh-bye. Well, the film got some nasty cuts, re-shoots and edits to make it more sanitized for a younger crowd you can argue. You may have even seen the other picture. It's hard to know what is being said or done here. Joker's body language, with that stern finger does not incite love though.

This begs the question, which is the true canon. Right now, we can only assume the theatrical release or extended cut which did not include these, as the true canon. We still do not know the full details on the true director's cut. Coming back to the argument, given this Joker's willingness to do some awful things to her yet still save her, twice, what was the straw that broke the camel's back of his relationship with Harley Quinn? Now it is possible Harley Quinn states why in the Birds of Prey film through just sheer exposition a.k.a. lazy filmmaking. Plus, as we have seen in the animated series with the Being Harley Quinn episode that her trauma and damaged psyche does not make her a reliable story teller.

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