Harley Quinn’s Origin Story Is Completely Changed In Joker 2 (But It’s For The Better)

The primary full trailer for Joker: Folie à Deux confirms that Girl Gaga’s Harley Quinn is getting a really completely different origin story from each different model of the DC character. Todd Phillips’ Joker: Folie à Deux brings Joaquin Phoenix again as Arthur Fleck alongside Joker’s new companion in crime, Girl Gaga’s Harley Quinn. Collectively, Joker and Harley Quinn appear to be a ticking time bomb for Gotham, as Joker’s affect on the town has made him a controversial public determine with loads of loyal followers and supporters, and Harley Quinn is one flirtatious crush away from changing into one other Joker.

Todd Phillips’ Joker made huge modifications to the titular character, together with his sympathetic backstory and Batman’s absence within the villain’s legal origin. In Joker‘s ultra-realistic universe, vigilantes and supervillains appear to be nonexistent, and just some well-known DC figures are straightforward to identify, albeit with a number of modifications to assist them match this continuity — amongst them, Thomas and Bruce Wayne, who function a illustration of Gotham’s elite. Equally, Girl Gaga’s Harley Quinn is launched with numerous main modifications, particularly relating to her origin story.

Harley Quinn Is not Arthur Fleck’s Physician In Joker: Folie À Deux, However One other Affected person

Joker: Folie À Deux’s First Trailer Confirms That Harley Quinn Is An Arkham State Hospital Affected person

After a protracted wait, Joker: Folie à Deux‘s first trailer reveals how Joker meets Harley Quinn in Todd Phillips’ DC Elseworlds universe. Opposite to each earlier iteration of Joker’s old flame, Girl Gaga’s Harley Quinn is launched as a affected person in Arkham State Hospital. Within the first pictures of the trailer, Arthur Fleck and Harley Quinn change a fast look whereas Fleck is being escorted out of his cell and Harley is collaborating in a bunch singing class. Following the sequence of occasions recommended by the film, Harley lets Joker understand how a lot she admires him, which infatuates him.

Because the trailer suggests, Joker is placed on trial for the homicide of Murray Franklin and the rebellion he unleashed on Gotham Metropolis. Nevertheless, Joker’s romantic relationship along with his fellow affected person improves his habits inside Arkham State Hospital, which could permit him to be reconsidered for launch, and presumably to have his authorized fees dropped in courtroom. This course of appears to be a televised occasion for all of Gotham, as a crowd gathers to help Joker, and Harley Quinn seemingly arrives as a witness. Additionally following the trailer’s narrative, Harley could play a key position in Joker’s newfound freedom.

Past Harley Quinn’s position in Joker’s redemption, it is clear that she additionally exacerbates his altered notion of actuality. In any case, the literal that means of Joker: Folie à Deux‘s title is “insanity for 2,” and the trailer confirms that Harley admires Joker’s questionable actions. Evidently Harley infects Joker along with her ardour for music, and Joker motivates Harley to unleash her darkest needs. Collectively, Joker and Harley appear to amplify one another’s instability, which might solely finish in chaos for themselves and tragedy for others. On this sense, Joker’s damaging affect on Harley is devoted to Harley’s conventional origin story.

How Girl Gaga’s Harley Quinn Origin Differs From Different Variations

Joker: Folie À Deux Flips Harley Quinn’s Unique Relationship With The Joker

Harley Quinn was an unique creation by Bruce Timm and Paul Dini, designed particularly for Batman: The Animated Collection. Due to this fact, Harley’s introduction within the 1992 episode “Joker’s Favor” is the unique supply materials for each subsequent model of the character. Shortly after Harley’s animated sequence debut, Timm and Dini collaborated on the comedian guide The Batman Adventures: Mad Love, which revealed Harley’s origin: scientific psychologist Harleen Frances Quinzel falls in love along with her affected person, Joker, who recruits her as his right-hand ally and pulls her into a lifetime of crime.

Each following iteration of Harley Quinn has drawn inspiration from Batman: The Animated Collection. DC Comics has expanded Harley Quinn’s backstory, along with her background as a gymnast and a thriving profession in legal psychology. The comics additionally underlined Harleen Quinzel’s rebirth as Harley Quinn via a chemical bathtub in the identical Ace Chemical plant the place Joker created his evil persona. After Batman: The Animated Collection and DC Comics’ iterations of Harley rose to huge recognition, Margot Robbie’s DCEU Harley Quinn lined all these factors precisely, and the Harley Quinn animated present used it as a foundation for the protagonist’s background.

Harley Quinn’s introduction as an Arkham affected person is an enormous divergence from the supply materials. Nevertheless, Harley’s infatuation for Joker after attending to know him at Arkham is not too completely different from her unique introduction. Girl Gaga’s distinctive Harley Quinn additionally suits this continuity completely, as Joker himself is kind of a novel tackle the enduring DC villain. Similar to the identify “Arthur Fleck” and his dream of being a comic are unique creations for 2019’s Joker, Joker: Folie à Deux‘s modifications to Harley Quinn assist Joker’s lover resemble him extra intently.

Joker 2’s Harley Quinn Origin Avoids Some Of The Problematic Features Of Their Relationship

Harley Quinn’s New Origin Story Avoids A Problematic Half Of Joker’s Historical past

One other vital a part of Harley Quinn and Joker’s 30-year historical past is their troubled relationship. Most, if not all, variations of the Joker have handled Harley like a pawn regardless of her real emotions for him, and her affection hasn’t been corresponded. For that reason, Harley Quinn has gained independence from the Joker, and her quest to go away him behind has grow to be a central a part of her story. Within the DCEU, Birds of Prey follows Harley Quinn’s post-break-up journey, and the Harley Quinn animated sequence facilities round Harley’s personal adventures as she rises via the ranks of Gotham’s supervillains by herself.

Whether or not Joaquin Phoenix’s Joker turns into abusive in the direction of Girl Gaga’s Harley Quinn in Joker: Folie à Deux is but to be identified. Nevertheless, Joker’s manipulation of Harley Quinn’s emotions throughout his remedy periods aren’t a part of their story in Todd Phillips’ Joker sequel, and it looks like Joker and Harley’s relationship is wholesome, not less than in the direction of one another. The absence of Joker and Harley Quinn’s conventional energy imbalance opens the door for a real legal duo in Joker: Folie à Deux, although that does not imply that such an in depth relationship will lead to a cheerful ending.