Here comes Harley Quinn!
News broke Monday that “The Wolf of Wall Street” star Margot Robbie has likely been cast to play Harley Quinn in the 2016 DC comic book movie “Suicide Squad.”
Fans so far seem OK with the choice — she’s got the pretty face and wicked smile that might be able to pull off the role of the Joker’s girlfriend, who is forced to join the government strike force known as the Suicide Squad. And with rumors pointing to Jared Leto in the role of the notorious Joker, the film is shaping up to be an interesting mix of stars and villains.
But who is Harley? A brief history here:
Who is Harley Quinn, anyway?
Born Harleen Quinzel, she was a psychiatric intern at Arkham Asylum, the infamous madhouse holding a rogues’ gallery of Batman’s foes. She was a top student and accomplished gymnast (superheroes and villains seem to have a thing for gymnastics). While working at Arkham, she became fascinated by the Joker, who eventually seduced her.
She got taken in by a form of love madness that made her want to become a dedicated accomplice to the clown prince of crime. She helped him escape and then fled herself. When she reappears, she dons clown makeup and a harlequin jumpsuit, and serves as girlfriend and accomplice to her beloved joker. She talks like a ditzy city girl sometimes, but she wields a fierce and deadly mallet at her enemies.
Origins
Harley Quinn is an oddity in the comics world — because she didn’t start in the comics. She was first introduced in 1992’s (very excellent) “Batman: The Animated Series” by Paul Dini, one of the show’s writers and producers. Dini had the idea for the character after seeing his friend, actress Arleen Sorkin, in a “Days of Our Lives” scene dressed as a clown (video above).
The character was originally meant as a one-episode walk-on, but she became a hit as a love interest for the Joker (voiced by Mark Hamill), whom she called “Mr. J.,” or just “puddin.” Sorkin went on to voice the character through cartoons and video games for the next 19 years. In 1994, DC comics folded her into their universe with an origin story comic book.
Present whereabouts
Like lots of social outcasts, Harley Quinn found her way to Brooklyn. Quinn got her own comic title that launched in 2013; in it, she inherits the building that houses the Coney Island Circus Sideshow and moves there to live above it, serving as landlady to the freaks below. She’s also good buddies with Poison Ivy, who pops by every now and then for girls’ night.
Is she in ‘Gotham’?
Lord, let’s hope not. She’d be a zygote if she was, but the show doesn’t seem interested in making much sense of Batman’s linear history — so who knows if they’ll find a way to cram her in.
Kevin Smith is a fan
The filmmaker and famed comic book geek named his daughter Harley Quinn Smith when she was born in 1999.
First attempt at live action
Harley Quinn was featured in the short-lived “Birds of Prey” show, which ran for 13 episodes on the WB in 2002. She was played by Mia Sara (Sloane from “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off”), but the show left a bit to be desired for comics fans.
Everyone wants to play her
Katee Sackhoff, who played Starbuck on “Battlestar Galactica,” lobbied for the role before a movie was even announced.
“Harley Quinn is an amazing character and such a wealth of entertainment that hasn’t been tapped into that world yet,” Sackhoff told The Post in the spring.
Model Cara Delevingne was rumored to be after the role, too.
She’s also one of the most popular picks for cosplay at comic cons and the like, in outfits with varying degrees of skimpiness.