Bruce Timm reacts to Suicide Squad’s live-action take on Harley Quinn

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

Several days ago we got our first look at the cast of SUICIDE SQUAD in costume and it prompted quite a lot of debate from you strikebackers, with a particular focus on Margot Robbie's Harley Quinn; but what does one of the creators of the character think of Harley Quinn's new design? Lets find out.

Bruce Timm, who co-created Harley Quinn with Paul Dini years ago in Batman: The Animated Series, recently spoke with io9 and gave his reaction to this live-action version of the character:

I just saw the pic like a couple hours ago. It was interesting. I was frankly a little nervous about what Harley would look like, but I thought she looked really cool. So I’m optimistic, we see.

It sounds like Timm is in the same boat as many of us; cautiously optimistic but needing to see more. Bruce Timm also gave his take on what he believes makes Harley Quinn work:

It’s funny, because she started off as just like a one joke idea and she’s gained all these different dimensions from all the stories we did, and the stuff that happens in the comics. I think bottom line the most important thing about her is that she’s funny. One way or the other regardless of what her backstory is, or whether she’s in an abusive relationship with the Joker, or if she’s off on her own, or hanging out with Poison Ivy, or whether she’s a villain or a hero. I think bottomline her stories always have to be fun, if not flat out hilarious (but that would be even better). That’s one of the things I like about the current comic. They understand that, they’re not treating her as another angsty bizarre superhero type character. She’s really weird and funny and kind of chaotic.

We'll have to wait and see whether the SUICIDE SQUAD version of Quinn will take Bruce Timm's advice into consideration. Meanwhile Harley Quinn's other creator, Paul Dini, also chimed in with his thoughts on the SUICIDE SQUAD cast photo:

As with most movies, it's hard to judge one based on a still image so I'm holding off on any real opinions until we get a trailer for SUICIDE SQUAD. That said, it has the potential to be something quite different in the increasingly crowded arena of superhero films so at the very least it's got my interest, and with Will Smith, Jai Courtney, Margot Robbie, Adam Beach, Cara Delevingne, Karen Fukuhara, Joel Kinnaman, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Scott Eastwood, Jay Hernandez, and Jared Leto rounding out the cast I think we could be in for a fun ride. Fingers crossed.

SUICIDE SQUAD will hit up theaters on August 5, 2016.

This badass Harley Quinn art comes from BossLogic.