We're only a few months away from James Gunn's The Suicide Squad, which, among other things, features Australian actress Margot Robbie's third time in the role of DC villain/anti-hero Harley Quinn. Now it looks like Robbie herself is interested in exploring the character's relationship with another famous DC villain, Poison Ivy.
Originally introduced in the endlessly popular Batman: The Animated Series, Harley Quinn has become one of DC's most popular characters in recent years. Robbie brought this fan favorite to life for the first time in David Ayer's Suicide Squad, where she was portrayed as the one-time lover/partner in crime of Jared Leto's cringy Juggalo-inspired Joker. However, DC fans will know that the Joker is not the only partner with whom Quinn is associated with.
In an interview with Den of Geek, Robbie was asked when fans can expect to see Poison Ivy alongside Harley Quinn in the DCEU, to which she replied, “Trust me, I chew their ear off about it all the time. They must be sick of hearing it, but I’m like, ‘Poison Ivy, Poison Ivy. Come on, let’s do it.’ I’m very keen to see a Harley-Poison Ivy relationship on screen. It’d be so fun. So I’ll keep pestering them. Don’t worry.” It's good news that Robbie herself wants to see this, as she has a decent amount of influence over future DCEU projects. Robbie was instrumental in getting the character her own film in the form of Cathy Yan's Birds of Prey, and with a shared movie universe that's in constant flux, she's one of only a few actors to remain a consistent part of the DCEU.
In the comics, Poison Ivy is a Batman villain with the ability to communicate with and manipulate plant life. She also has toxins in her bloodstream, making her touch deadly. She has the ability to put people under her influence and is often portrayed as a seductress. Due to her ability to communicate with plants, she's sometimes portrayed as a hardcore environmentalist. While the character has yet to appear in the modern DCEU, she has been portrayed several times in live-action, most notably by actress Uma Thurman in Joel Schumacher's 1997 camp masterpiece Batman & Robin. It's too bad this romantic relationship hadn't been established in the '90s, since Schumacher's film is famously homoerotic.
Harley and Poison Ivy first teamed up in Batman: The Animated Series, when they went on a crime spree after Harley tried to distance herself from the Joker. From there, they've also teamed up in the comics and more recently the duo can be seen in the animated Harley Quinn TV series on HBO Max. While the two are sometimes portrayed as platonic friends, they also have a history of romantic entanglement, which has been portrayed in the comics and on the TV show. Robbie has also previously gone on the record to say that she would be interested in portraying the relationship as a romantic/sexual one.
Poison Ivy has also appeared in dozens of animated tv shows/ movies, video games, and comic book storylines. So hopefully fans will get to see Ivy and Harley team up in the future of the DCEU. Warner Bros. and DC have been making a push for further inclusion in their future comic book movies/tv shows, so this would be a great opportunity to have some LGBTQ+ representation on screen.
The Suicide Squad hits theatres and HBO Max on August 6th, 2021.
Source: DenOfGeek