The upcoming Joker 2 film is going to bring a brand-new version of Harley Quinn to the big screen, but it may be even more radically different than fans are expecting.
Joker: Folie a Deuxdirector Todd Phillip sat down for a lengthyinterview with Variety, discussing the upcoming Joker sequel and how it plays out.
However, one of the more notable comments from their chat focused on how the film will approach Harley Quinn, played byLady Gaga. According to Phillips, they took a unique approach to the iconic DC character, similar to how Phoenix’s Joker is unique from any other version we’ve seen of the Clown Prince of Crime.
Todd Phillips discusses Lady Gaga’s take on Harley Quinn in#JokerFolieaDeux.https://t.co/NmOS73Xb53pic.twitter.com/MWFx0a94QJ
“The high voice, that accent, the gum-chewing and all that sort of sassy stuff that’s in the comics, we stripped that away,” Phillips tells Variety. “We wanted her to fit into this world of Gotham that we created from the first movie.”
Fans are a little mixed on this, as one would expect. For most, it’s a slap in the face of the original Harley Quinn, a beloved character and one of the few to make the jump in earnest across multiple forms of media.
Harley originally debuted as a supporting character in Batman: The Animated Series, created so that The Joker wouldn’t just have an array of nameless goons. But her popularity exploded, and she transitioned to being a comic book star by the end of the decade.
Since then, she’s appeared inother animated series,video games, and movies, and has become a juggernaut almost as massive as the Joker himself. But Joker 2 will see awholly unique takeon the character, which already has fanscalling her“not Harley Quinn.”
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But just as many are excited to see what Lady Gaga does in the role. She’s proven to be a powerhouse actress with roles like A Star is Born, and thejukebox musical stylingsof Joker: Folie a Deux offer a chance forsomething unique.
Christopher Baggett was a TV & Movies Writer on Dexerto’s US team and a comics expert, across DC Comics and Marvel. He also has bylines at ComicsBeat, Comic Book Resources, and The HomeWorld.
