Super Spinoffs

Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn Gets a Spin-Off

The planned movie will feature a collection of famous female heroes and villains.
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Courtesy of Warner Bros.

While Marvel continues to sit on its hands when it comes to making a Black Widow movie, Warner Bros. has gone ahead and planned another movie for a female DC character—with a whole gang of female heroes and villains folded in for good measure. We already know that Gal Gadot’s Wonder Woman will lead her own film next year, and now The Hollywood Reporter reports that Margot Robbie is attached to her own stand-alone flick as Harley Quinn, who will make her debut this summer in Suicide Squad.

Robbie would also be producing the movie, which T.H.R. says would be written by a thus-far unnamed female writer. Rather than being a Harley Quinn solo film, the movie would gather together a coterie of DC’s female heroes and villains, possibly including Batgirl and Birds of Prey, T.H.R. reports. No word yet on the plot, or who might star opposite Robbie, but it’s worth noting that the actress said recently that she wanted to focus on “roles where the main interest will be in the character and her importance in driving a story forward, rather than her relationship with a male character.” In other words, it’s unlikely that this movie would, say, focus on Harley Quinn’s complex relationship with the Joker.

Oddly, T.H.R.’s report makes no promise regarding one character with whom Harley Quinn has long been tied: Poison Ivy. Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy have been longtime partners in the DC universe, and often their portrayal has teased possibilities beyond simple “friendship.” So far, Poison Ivy has only appeared once in theaters, when Uma Thurman brought her to life in 1997’s less-than-perfect Batman & Robin. If Harley Quinn is getting her own movie, a second chance for Poison Ivy seems more than possible—it seems necessary. And if we could get Cara Delevingne to come back and reprise her Suicide Squad role as Enchantress, too? Even better.

Margot Robbie

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AGE: 23. PROVENANCE: Gold Coast, Australia. GIRL NEXT DOOR: Robbie’s big break came as a teenager when she was cast in her home country’s beloved long-running serial Neighbours. “It’s a soap opera, but soaps aren’t really the same as they seem to be here. It’s just like a Vegemite sandwich—it’s an Australian staple.” TAKING FLIGHT: Robbie moved to L.A. five days after her contract ended on Neighbours, and only a month later landed a role on ABC’s retro series Pan Am. “I think it was after close to a year being on Neighbours that I was kind of like, O.K., this is what I’m going to do. America’s the next step.” ON THE MARKET: Robbie makes her leap to the big screen later this year, playing Leonardo DiCaprio’s wife in Martin Scorsese’s The Wolf of Wall Street, out in November. Her high-wattage co-star was an inspiration as well as a support. “Working with him was, as an actor, the most satisfying experience I’ve had in my entire career so far.” CLOCKWORK: With a part in Richard Curtis’s romantic comedy About Time, out this month, Robbie is quickly solidifying herself as a Hollywood up-and-comer. “I’m still trying to convince [my family] that this is actually a career and not just a hobby, and that it’s what I plan on doing with my life. They’re slowly coming around to it.”
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