Despite being under the DCEU umbrella, Birds of Prey (And The Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) was not expected to reference the DCEU, according to the film’s director Cathy Yan. After a string of successful DC related projects, such as Aquaman, Shazam!, and Joker, Warner Bros. was expecting to continue the momentum with Margot Robbie’s return as Harley Quinn in Birds of Prey. Unfortunately, since its theatrical release back in February, the film has struggled to hook audiences, bringing in DC’s lowest box office opening in a decade, and more recently, finishing fourth in streaming rentals/sales. However, one shining light for Yan’s female team is that the critical and audience appreciation has been far greater than Robbie’s previous DC outing, Suicide Squad.
In the lead up to Birds of Prey’s theatrical release, a big question was how much connection it would have to the much-criticized Suicide Squad and the rest of the DCEU. Producer Sue Kroll even distanced Yan’s film from Suicide Squad, when she told Screen Rant during a set visit that Birds of Prey is “a standalone movie, it’s not connected to Suicide Squad. It’s not a sequel.” While Yan’s Harley Quinn-driven story is very much its own film, focusing on Quinn and the new characters, it does surprisingly have a lot of references to not only Suicide Squad, but other DCEU characters. A glimpse of the Jared Leto inspired Joker can be seen in BoP as the break up with Joker is a big motivation for Harley’s early actions in the story, and there is even a mention of that “hunky Wayne guy” aka Batman.
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Cathy Yan discussed Birds of Prey’s connection with the DCEU after being asked if the studio requested that the film link to DC’s Extended Universe. Yan went into detail about how they approached Birds of Prey's connections to earlier movies, like Suicide Squad, explaining how the decision stemmed from Harley's character more than anything.
Yes and no. They were pretty supportive and hands-off in terms of that specific thing of having it connect to this film, the next film or anything like that... I also thought it would be very jarring to see Harley Quinn, played by Margot Robbie, in a completely different look. So, we kept her tattoos, but then we also doctored them and grounded them in character and what she was going through. The “J” turned into the mermaid, and “pudding” was turned into “pudding cups.” We kept her hair, and we thought, “What if she’s not taking care of it as well? What if it just kinda grows out?”
In terms of costumes, it was a very character-based transition from what she would wear when she was with the Joker and then what she would wear when she’s on her own and making these decisions for herself. I really loved the way that the weapons always looked, so we kept the bat and mallet pretty much as is. I think we actually made the mallet a little smaller so it was easier for her to hit people with it. So, we did what we could with it, and there’s obviously that little homage like “Hey, I know that guy!” [to Jai Courtney’s Captain Boomerang] as well. So, we definitely tried to pepper it in, and it wasn’t just Suicide Squad.
When the DCEU started back in 2013 with Man of Steel, it seemed hell-bent on copying the Marvel formula of one universe. However, after seeing less than flattering results, the studio has seemingly been more willing to allow directors to create strong, standalone stories. That’s evident here in Yan’s response to whether she had any pressure from the studio to link the DCEU into the story. The director was able to link Birds of Prey to Suicide Squad and the rest of the extended universe in a way that fit its tongue-in-cheek humor, but also led to it logically inspiring her film’s narrative.
Also, the level of detail Yan had for how and why she has incorporated specific references to the DCEU is admirable, and a testament to what the narrative surrounding Birds of Prey should be - that it’s a clever, witty, and strong comic book film. Unfortunately, due to Warner Bros. failure in the marketing department, and the confusing title changes during its theatrical run, its disappointing financial tale has seemingly overshadowed what is a strong addition to the DCEU. However, considering the quality of Birds of Prey and the success the studio has seen elsewhere, the forced connection to the DCEU will hopefully continue to be a thing of the past for future projects too.
Source: THR