Warner Bros., in the superhero film arms race, has managed to drop another bomb by releasing news that a Harley Quinn movie is currently in development based on Margot Robbie's iteration of the character who will make her debut in this August's Suicide Squad. Harleen Quinzel has been a staple within the Batman universe, along with the DC Comic-verse as a whole, for over a decade now. Unlike many of the other Bat-villains we’ve come to know over the years, the “Clown Princess of Crime” had quite a different origin from her fellow Arkham Asylum inmates. In this article, we’ll walk you through Harley’s past in Batman: The Animated Series, her present in the DC comics, and her future in the DC Cinematic Universe to suss out what we might reasonably expect in a Harley Quinn spinoff movie.

Animated Antics

Of all the contributions that Batman: The Animated Series had on the lore of the Dark Knight, perhaps none was bigger than the inclusion of Harley Quinn. Originally appearing in the episode titled, “The Joker’s Favor”, Quinn cemented herself as the right hand woman to the Joker. It was soon revealed that Harley’s attachment to “Mr. J” was out of love, a psychotic obsessive love but love nonetheless. Harleen had once been a psychiatrist within the walls of Arkham Asylum, but after numerous one on one sessions with the Joker, she fell head over heels for him. Delving straight into madness, Quinn stormed out of her job, slapped on a “harlequin” costume and sprung the Joker free of Arkham, laughing all the way. While Harley loves the Joker, the Joker merely cares about himself and his “jokes” in fighting Batman, something which was demonstrated to horrific effect in the episode “Mad Love”.

In this installment, Harley managed to capture Batman and planned to end the Dark Knight using one of Joker’s plans. When Mr. J arrived, he knocked Harley out of the window, claiming she just didn’t “get the joke”. Undeterred, Harley Quinn still held onto her love for the Joker, and their relationship has been “On again, off again” for their continued histories. So popular was Harley received during the Animated Series that DC decided to include her into the comic book universe proper in a one shot issue titled, appropriately enough, “Batman: Harley Quinn”. Here, Harley had something of a similar origin to the cartoon, minus the fact that she now had enhanced strength and speed thanks to Poison Ivy. Quinn was also introduced during a storyline titled, “No Man’s Land” which saw Gotham City cut off from the rest of the world due to a series of earthquakes.

Harley would eventually cut ties with the Joker and begin having her own solo adventures, acting akin to someone like Deadpool, an anti-hero who made quips along the way. Harley has had her own solo comic book series for quite some time now, though she has changed significantly over the years.

The More Things Change

When the DC Comics universe decided to “reboot” their universe by creating the New 52, age old characters were given new appearances and backstories to keep them in line with modern times. For Harley, her old full body suit was replaced with something closer to her appearance from the Batman: Arkham games. Aside from the wardrobe change, Quinn also had her skin permanently bleached white akin to the Joker. In her original appearance, Harleen simply used makeup to give herself a ghostly visage similar to Clown Prince of Crime’s, but in the New 52, Quinn falls into the same chemicals that made the Joker who he was. She also doesn’t really have the superhuman abilities she did in her previous incarnation, but her insanity and fun-loving attitude remains the same.

Harley was given her own comic series once again, and it remains one of the highest selling books that DC currently publishes. Quinn has basically completely put the Joker behind her at this point, even beating to him a bloody pulp on a few occasions. Another of the big changes that the popular villainess has gone under has been her joining of the Suicide Squad. A team of villains employed by the government to take risky missions in order to reduce their sentences, Harley acts as the wild card of the group, ever unpredictable. Needless to say, expect a similar dynamic to appear this summer when Suicide Squad hits the big screens.

Harley and Friends

Suicide Squad promises to show Harley’s dynamic with a team chock full of other super villains such as Deadshot, Killer Croc, Diablo, Enchantress, and Captain Boomerang to name a few. It will also be exploring her past of being manipulated by the Joker, promising to introduce us to the latest take on Batman’s arch-enemy as portrayed by Jared Leto. Margot Robbie, the actress who is currently portraying the first live-action version of Harley on the screen, is spearheading a solo movie for Harley Quinn that will be forthcoming from Warner Bros.. The film also promises to bring introductions to many of the DC Universe’s other female characters who have yet to hit the scene in this newest interpretation of the comic book world. But who could these other characters be?

First, Harley was once attached to a group of Gotham villainesses dubbed the “Gotham Sirens”. The “team” was made up of Harley Quinn, Catwoman, and Poison Ivy who would constantly walk a tightrope of heroism and villainy. If you were to introduce supporting characters who made up the biggest parts of Gotham City and Harley’s life, it would be Ivy and Selina. Another group of female heroes in the DCU that Harley would come into contact with often were the “Birds of Prey”. A strictly hero team made up of Batwoman, Black Canary, Huntress, and an assortment of others, Harley would usually be clashing with this team rather than helping them. If Batman wasn’t the main “antagonist” to Harley in her film, it would most likely be this group.

Harley’s backstory is one of tragedy and heartache, while still peppering in some black humor along the way. If there was ever a character who would flourish in this new DC Cinematic Universe, it would most likely be her.

Harley Quinn Facts

- Harley Quinn was actually slated to be in a previous Batman movie dubbed Batman Unchained. This would have been another outing from director Joel Schumacher following the universally panned Batman and Robin. In this, she was written to be Joker’s daughter rather than his love interest, seeking revenge for his death. The harsh response to Batman and Robin, however, led to WB scrapping Unchained and starting from scratch.

- Harley has actually appeared twice before on live-action TV. Once as a villain in the now defunct series, Birds of Prey and in an extremely brief cameo in the CW’s Arrow, before WB posses put a stop to the show's Quinn plans in favor of using the character on the big screen in Suicide Squad.

- Quinn, similarly to how the Joker is portrayed, can go from hilarious to almost relentlessly dark. In one recent storyline, Harley Quinn gave a bunch of bombs to children disguised as the latest video games then detonated them to simply try to get the Joker’s attention. Yikes.

- Arleen Sorkin was the original voice of Harley in The Animated Series and played the role for quite some time.