The Suicide Squad took inspiration from Harley Quinn in Batman: Arkham games says director

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The iconic Harley Quinn look is back

Harley Quinn in The Suicide Squad
(Image credit: Warner Bros./DC)

The Suicide Squad director James Gunn has stated that he was inspired by the Batman: Arkham games when designing Harley Quinn’s new outfit. 

In a trailer breakdown video with IGN, Gunn said that as soon as it was announced that he'd be part of the project, fans began asking how the actor behind Harley Quinn, Margot Robbie, would be dressed and whether the character’s iconic black and red look would be making a comeback.

As we can tell from the latest trailer of the film, Gunn did in fact bring the iconic look back, the filmmaker saying:  "I had a huge map of all the different looks of Harley Quinn throughout the years, in various media, and one of them I liked the best was the Arkham games look for Harley Quinn [...] so her first look in the movie, is that."

Despite the majority of the latest trailer showing Harley Quinn in a stylish red gown, we do get a brief glimpse of the other outfit – that was inspired by Rocksteady’s game – in one scene. Around a minute in, we see Harley enter a plane and explain why she was late to the gathering, it’s in this scene we can see her sporting a red and black corset similar to the character in the Batman: Arkham game series. This would also explain why Harley has swapped her blue and pink hair for black and red instead. 

The Suicide Squad’s version of Harley also dons a motorcycle jacket, which Gunn also shared info on stating that: "I knew I wanted to have something written on the back of her jacket – motorcycle gang style – and so that’s where I came up with 'live fast, die clown.'" A not-so-subtle hint towards Harley’s break up with The Joker, which we got to see more of in her standalone film Harley Quinn: Birds of Prey.

Also joining Harley Quinn in the upcoming movie is Idris Elba as Bloodsport, John Cena as Peacemaker, Pete Davidson as Blackguard, and Sylvester Stallone as King Shark. Not to mention returning characters from the 2016 Suicide Squad film, Captain Boomerang, who is played by Jai Courtney, and Amanda Waller who is played by Viola Davis. 

The Suicide Squad is set to release in cinemas on August 6, 2021. Can’t wait to get back to the cinema to see this? Find out what else will be coming to a theatre near you soon with our movie release dates list. 

Hope Bellingham
Hope Bellingham
News Writer

After studying Film Studies and Creative Writing at university, I was lucky enough to land a job as an intern at Player Two PR where I helped to release a number of indie titles. I then got even luckier when I became a Trainee News Writer at GamesRadar+ before being promoted to a fully-fledged News Writer after a year and a half of training.  My expertise lies in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, cozy indies, and The Last of Us, but especially in the Kingdom Hearts series. I'm also known to write about the odd Korean drama for the Entertainment team every now and then.