Let’s file this one under “Umm, huh, that’s surprising.” The Hollywood Reporter on Tuesday revealed that Margot Robbie will be re-teaming with her Suicide Squad director David Ayer for another DC Comics adaptation, Gotham City Sirens. Robbie will be reprising her role as the Clown Princess of Crime, Harley Quinn, which went down as many people’s favorite (or only redeeming) element of this summer’s Suicide Squad. Ayer will direct and produce the movie, with Robbie also serving as executive producer. A spin-off for Harley has been talked about since before Suicide Squad‘s release, with Robbie heavily involved in getting the picture off the ground.
Now, there are upsides and downsides to this news. The upside, of course, is that, by making a Gotham City Sirens movie, we’ll be getting a team-up with some of the DC Universe’s most popular and interesting female characters — Catwoman and Poison Ivy in addition to Quinn. I’ve been wanting to see a Harley/Ivy team-up since they became a truly compelling pair in Batman: The Animated Series‘s episode “Harley and Ivy.” The movie will also apparently be penned by Geneva Robertson-Dworet, who is currently the action-writer du jour, with her being attached to projects like Tomb Raider, Sherlock Holmes 3, and several of the Hasbro Films productions.
The maybe more questionable item here is the choice of Ayer to come back and direct. Suicide Squad was famously plagued by production issues and studio interference, and the finished product was not quite what fans were looking for (though it did make close to three-quarters of a billion dollars worldwide). It seems like Ayer or Warner Bros. might not want to team up again, not to mention the fact that there are plenty of female directors who might have a slightly less macho take on a movie about three anti-heroines. Geneva Robertson-Dworet, who penned the upcoming Tomb Raider reboot, is handling the script, so fingers crossed we get a Harley film that appeals to all types of fans.
Still, Geoff Johns and Jon Berg, the new heads of DC’s film arm, will be heavily involved in producing the movie, so let’s hope Gotham City Sirens will retain some of the magic of Paul Dini and Guillem March’s original comic.
Thoughts? We want to hear ’em! Let us know in the comments below!
Images: DC Comics/Warner Bros
Kyle Anderson is the Associate Editor for Nerdist. You can find his film and TV reviews here. Follow him on Twitter!
