At the movies, DC lags behind Marvel in almost every conceivable metric. They entered the shared universe game later, to worse reviews, and with a widening gap at the box office. While Ben Affleck and Zack Snyder are big names, it doesn’t yet appear to be translating to the kind of critical and commercial success that Marvel movies have enjoyed.
However, one area in which they could beat Marvel is in representation of women. Though Marvel’s heroes are smart, funny, and everything else you might want to say, the studio’s depictions of women have been either lacking or non-existent.
Enter Margot Robbie. The Aussie will play Harley Quinn in the upcoming Suicide Squad and might be helming a spinoff starring Quinn, per The Hollywood Reporter. Though she’d be the lead, she wouldn’t be the only woman in the movie. Robbie reportedly fell in love with DC’s stable of female characters while researching Quinn for her role and now wants to bring more of them to the big screen.
The studio and Robbie are playing things close to the vest. The writer attached is a woman, but nobody will say whom. DC is also home to Wonder Woman, and has recently launched DC SuperHero Girls, which is a product and comic line for young women. SuperHero Girls includes Batgirl, Poison Ivy, Harley Quinn, Katana (also in Suicide Squad), and the shrinking-and-flying Bumblebee.
Quinn is less staid that Wonder Woman but very popular in her own right. She was initially introduced as the Joker’s sidekick in the '90s-era Batman: The Animated Series but quickly grew into her own as a character. It’s not hard seeing the same thing happening here, especially given Jared Leto’s weird preparations for the role.
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