With 4 of this year’s biggest superhero movies already in theatres – “Deadpool“, “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice“, “Captain America: Civil War“, and “X-Men: Apocalypse” – many fans are already eagerly awaiting another highly-anticipated action film, “Suicide Squad”.
We still have roughly 3 months to go, but in the meantime, a new comic book prequel has arrived, shedding light on The Joker (played by Jared Leto) and Harley Quinn‘s (played by Margot Robbie) relationship, as well as how the couple ended up in the messy situation where the film finds them.
Titled “Suicide Blonde”, the mini comic book takes place several months before the main storyline of “Suicide Squad”. It begins in Belle Reve where Harley is being held captive in a cell. As she mulls over Amanda Waller’s (that’s Viola Davis in the film) offer to join up with Task Force X aka Suicide Squad, she has a flashback of an incident that happened several months ago in Gotham City.
While Harley changes into a slinky red and black evening dress, Joker scolds her for taking too much time. She sarcastically replies that it takes awhile to “put on her face” to which her boyfriend rebukes “not for me”, before turning his attention to their “guest”, a Gotham crime lord named Don Leo.
Just as Joker is about to bash Don Leo’s head with Harley’s baseball bat, she offers him an alternative by asking the crime lord to deliver a message to “Mister J” on their behalf instead. The comic goes on to show the duo being visibly upset upon arriving at a Gotham City night club only to see their signature look being copied by the attendees present.
The Joker here is clearly less humorous and rather violent with very little patience. Harley is the only one who seems to be able to keep him in check. In the words of Matthew Mueller, while “Harley is the yin to his yang so to speak, she can be just as ruthless as him, which we see a glimpse of in her concluding statement to Amanda Waller.”
As Bob Chipman points out, what the comic fails to explain is whether or not The Joker has a new origin story. In “Batman: The Animated Series”, Harley (real name: Harlene Quinzelle) starts out as a clinical psychiatrist attempting to psychoanalyse The Joker but instead was brainwashed by him.
Judging from the movie still above, it’s safe to assume that the duo will be meeting under similar circumstances.
You can check out the “Suicide Blonde” issue at Mad Love’s Tumblr here.
#SuicideSquad: New still of #Joker and #HarleyQuinn from @RollingStone! pic.twitter.com/RJgQQpPXac
— DC Films is ALL IN! (@DCFilms_) May 6, 2016
“Suicide Squad” is slated for release on 4th August 2016.
Sources: Movie Web, Screen Rant, Comic Book.
