Birds of Prey is the next major DC film that will be released from Warner Brothers, and it’s set to feature the return of the incredibly popular character Harley Quinn. But the first and last time that we saw Quinn, it was actually a part of the less than successful Suicide Squad.
There’s a number of things that just did not work in her initial outing, and some things that did. We’re therefore taking a look at 5 things that Birds of Prey should retcon from Suicide Squad, and 5 things that it should actually keep.
RETCON: JOKER
It seems pretty obvious that the Joker is being retconned and replaced with the Black Mask in a major way, but we definitely support this decision. In fact, the story seems to be that Harley has actually dumped Joker for good and perhaps even killed him.
The Jared Leto version of the character was arguably the least popular big screen version of the character. Although he probably wasn’t given enough screen time to really showcase everything he had worked on for Joker, it’s best that this iteration is forgotten about.
KEEP: PERFORMANCE
Harley Quinn has become so popular in part because of the performance that Margot Robbie put in. It’s fair to say that she completely encapsulated the character and took the comic version and put it straight onto the big screen.
The Oscar nominated actress is extremely talented and should be allowed a lot of freedoms to work on the character and portray her as she sees fit. Birds of Prey can therefore carry on what Suicide Squad has started, with an even more compelling performance.
RETCON: SUICIDE SQUAD
The actual Suicide Squad should probably be forgotten about. Sure there were a couple of members that we found interesting, but overall the team itself just didn’t work. It’s probably best the character moves on from her former allies when making some new friends.
Distancing itself from the Squad will also help DC to carry on its soft reboot of the franchise under the guiding hand of James Gunn. It needs to showcase that the Squad can function without the leads of Harley and Deadshot; reminding us of the previous film won’t help this.
KEEP: HARLEY’S ORIGIN
Harley Quinn’s origin has been show to us pretty clearly, so there’s no point trying to retcon it now and link it to the new film. It would only become more confusing if it somehow suggests the Joker wasn’t responsible for her descent into madness.
In fact, to help us forget about the past appearances of these characters, it may be more appropriate to not really mention the origin story at all. It’s not particularly relevant anymore and could only serve to confuse viewers further, especially those new to the franchise.
RETCON: DCEU CONNECTIONS
There really shouldn’t be any other DCEU references in this movie. This is working really well as a standalone film, as did some of the other more recent DC movies. It would be fun to see Batman appear, but that wouldn’t really work here.
The state of the DCEU is unclear as the franchises become more and more separated. Batman is being recast, and other films on the horizon seem to make no mention of the major crossovers that have taken place. Birds of Prey should stick to this strategy.
KEEP: VIBRANCY
The character’s presentation so far has been incredibly vibrant. While the rest of the Suicide Squad was dark and dingy, Harley Quinn herself is full of color and personality. The new Birds of Prey trailer signifies a continuation of this.
Quinn can be a bizarre character at times, but this is much more fun to lean into. The addition of her pet hyena for instance is one such way that this exciting and fun characterization can continue. Add the strange, dream like musical sequences, and DC may be onto a winner.
RETCON: TONE
The tone of the previous film needs to be improved upon however. The rest of the movie, aside from Quinn herself, was far too serious. There was a lack of solid vision and it felt a little like the overall individual voice had been lost amongst the producers and executives.
A clear tone and a clear vision would help this movie far more than Suicide Squad. Retconning the kind of tone that was set out there, with dark cinematography and bland visuals, will go a long way to help this new team become a success.
KEEP: LOOK
The look of the character was spot on and instantly inspired hundreds of cosplayers who wanted to emulate the Harley look. Quinn’s easy to make outfit, with colorful hair and quirky T-shirt choices, completed the look of this iconic clown character.
The new movie looks to be playing with her overall appearance and costumes further. There’s a lot of potential here for tons of fun designs, so the studio shouldn’t shy away from going all out with what they believe to be the perfect look for Dr. Harleen Quinzel.
RETCON: HISTORY
The history of this character isn’t that interesting. Where she moves next is. We’re worried that the Birds of Prey movie will try to retcon the Black Mask into Harley’s past in order to make this conflict a far more emotionally driven and personal one.
However, it would seem a little forced to have this new character suddenly be someone so linked to Harley. It would make more sense to retcon Harley’s history in order to link to Black Mask’s overall plan, but not to the character himself. They should never have crossed paths.
KEEP: ABILITIES
Harley’s power level, personality, and abilities have all hit the mark perfectly. She can pull a comically big hammer out from no where and no one asks any questions. She’s excellent with two guns, although not so talented in hand to hand combat.
However, just because she is the main focus of this new film, that doesn’t mean her abilities should be enhanced in any way. In fact its more interesting to see Harley constantly having to innovate than just be great at everything immediately.
