New Birds of Prey and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn footage from CCXP showed fans the film’s opening sequence, which included the breakup of the Joker and Harley Quinn. This incarnation of Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie) was introduced to viwers in David Ayer's Suicide Squad, a film which saw that character infatuated with Jared Leto’s Joker. Their passion was not reflected in the reaction critics or audiences had with Suicide Squad, however, and now Warner Bros. has a soft reboot (The Suicide Squad) planned and have largely abandoned Leto’s version of the Joker.
Before the release of Suicide Squad, there was a lot of hype surrounding Jared Leto’s Joker. The majority of this hype was due to the character’s iconic status and subsequently iconic performances, most notably those of Heath Ledger and Jack Nicholson. People weren’t necessarily impressed Leto’s take on the Joker character, and 2019's unconnected film Joker with Joaquin Phoenix has almost evaporated any remaining interest in the former. All of that being said, the greatest thing to come out of 2016’s Suicide Squad is arguably Margot Robbie’s performance as Harley Quinn.
The upcoming Birds of Prey movie sees Robbie’s Quinn at the epicenter of her own adventure, one free of the Joker's influence. According to Deadline, this is how Birds of Prey begins; by symbolically cutting ties with Suicide Squad. The DC comics panel at Brazil’s CCXP (Comic Con Experience) which focused on Birds of Prey showed fans in attendance the movies’ opening sequence. This sequence (voiced-over by Robbie) showed Quinn getting thrown out onto the street after her breakup with “Mr. J," and although Leto’s character does not appear his existence is implied. She is then shown getting her own place, adopting her signature hyenas, and blowing up the building (Ace Chemicals) where she first met the Joker, walking away like a true action hero afterwards.
Also in attendance at the Birds of Prey panel (besides Margot Robbie, of course) were Rosie Perez, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Jurnee Smollett-Bell, Ella Jay Basco, and director Cathy Yan. Before the initial footage was shown, Robbie explained the world they’ve created in Birds of Prey is "crazy unpredictable — as you can expect.” That world is set to introduce us to superheros Black Canary (Smollett-Bell), Huntress (Winstead), and Renee Montoya (Perez) who team up with Quinn to take down the Gotham crime lord, Black Mask (Ewan McGregor). Black Mask was also featured near the end of a trailer that was shown- it began with Quinn robbing a bank and ended with McGregor donning the "black mask."
Birds of Prey's female-centric and empowering vibe epitomizes DC’s intention moving forward. While they most certainly experienced a bit of a rough start with the lackluster Suicide Squad and Justice League, forthcoming films like the Aquaman 2, Wonder Woman 1984, and R-rated (see success of Joker) Birds of Prey show that the studio is focusing on the things which have worked in the past, and is capitalizing on them. One of the things which worked well for 2016’s Suicide Squad was Harley Quinn; a character who was originally to be an afterthought behind the Joker. As said by Quinn herself at the beginning of the CCXP footage, “Behind every successful man there’s a bad-ass broad.”
Source: Deadline
