Harley Quinn, now played by pop icon Lady Gaga, will return to the big screen in Joker: Folie à Deux. She succeeds Margot Robbie, who played the character in three different DCEU movies. But judging from the first trailer, this take on Harleen Quinzel will be somewhat different from the ones fans have known for over 30 years. Here’s how director Todd Phillips’ version of Harley Quinn differs from the traditional version we’ve come to know since she debuted in Batman: The Animated Series.
The Batman: The Animated Series Origin of Harley Quinn
Harley Quinn was created by Bruce Timm and Paul Dini in 1992, as a sidekick/girlfriend for the Joker on Batman: The Animated Series. Thanks to a wonderful performance from actress Arleen Sorkin, who inspired the character in the first place, she became a fan favorite. By the end of the ’90s, DC incorporated her into the DC Comics universe proper. A year after her debut, Timm and Dini teamed up for the comic book Mad Love. This was the first origin story presented for Harley. It would later serve as the template for a 1999 episode of The New Batman Adventures of the same name.
In her origin story, her real name was Harleen Francis Quinzel and she was the Joker’s therapist at Arkham Asylum. The name was a nod to her voice actress, Arleen Francis Sorkin. Harleen had gone to Gotham University under a gymnastics scholarship but also studied psychology. She hoped to write a book about a famous killer and make a name for herself that way. When she became a psychiatric intern at Arkham Asylum, she saw the Joker as her meal ticket. But the Joker manipulated her and told her lies. He made himself seem sympathetic and a victim of circumstance. She fell in love with him and he twisted her mind in the process. Ultimately, she helped him escape Arkham and became his willing accomplice, girlfriend, and literal partner-in-crime. Joker christened her with the name Harley Quinn, since her real name, Harleen Quinzel, reminded him of a harlequin.
DC Comics Adds to Harley Quinn’s Backstory
The writers at DC Comics kept this cartoon backstory largely intact. Later, they added an explanation for her enhanced strength and agility. Those powers were the result of a serum created for her by her sometime girlfriend Poison Ivy. It also made her immune to most toxins and poisons. Eventually, Harley broke free of the Joker’s abuse for good, and became something of an antihero. In DC’s New 52 reboot, DC added in the detail of the Joker pushing Harley into the same vat of chemicals that bleached his skin and drove him mad. The 2016 Suicide Squad movie, featuring Margot Robbie, incorporated this detail into her live-action origin story.
Lady Gaga’s Harley Is an Arkham Inmate, Not Joker’s Therapist
For the upcoming Joker: Folie à Deux, it looks like Gaga’s version of Harley Quinn will differ significantly. She’ll be another inmate at Arkham, not a therapist treating Fleck. Although, for all we know, she was a therapist once, just not his. Much like the comics, it looks like she will play a key role in breaking Fleck out of Arkham. Judging from the teaser, it appears she has more of an upper hand in the relationship than he does. She seems to be manipulating him more than the other way around. At least in one scene, Harley will sport her traditional red and black color scheme, which is a clear nod to the comics. Though the name Arthur Fleck isn’t from the comics, Lady Gaga’s Harley Quinn is still called Harleen Quinzel.
However, Lady Gaga revealed that her version of Harley Quinn would go by the name Lee. And Todd Phillips recently told Empire Magazine that Lee would be a fresh interpretation of the Harley we know so well. “While there are some things that people would find familiar in her, it’s really Gaga’s own interpretation, and Scott [Silver, co-writer] and I’s interpretation,” explains Phillips. “She became the way how [Charles] Manson had girls that idolised him. The way that sometimes these [imprisoned murderers] have people that look up to them. There are things about Harley in the movie that were taken from the comic books, but we took it and molded it to the way we wanted it to be.”
Most recently, Phillips noted of this new “more grounded” rendition of Harley Quinn, “The high voice, that accent, the gum-chewing and all that sort of sassy stuff that’s in the comics, we stripped that away. We wanted her to fit into this world of Gotham that we created from the first movie.”
We’ll know for sure when Joker: Folie à Deux hits theaters on October 4.
Originally published on April 10, 2024.