Suicide Squad rolled out a new trailer yesterday at the MTV Movie Awards, giving us another look at the movie and its concept. There’s quite a bit that’s interesting in the trailer: For example, we get a quick look at the core squad, and Enchantress isn’t on it, giving weight to the idea that she’s the villain of the piece. But just as interesting is how Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn is all over this trailer.
In fact, a fair chunk of the movie appears to be Harley’s origin story. If you look at the first trailer and the one above, and match costumes to scenes, you’ll notice we see Harley, pre-Squad, jumping or being thrown into a vat of chemicals:
Notice that whatever chemicals they’re in, it appears to be a bleaching agent of some sort. Nor is that the only moment from Harley’s past revealed. We also see Batman rescuing Harley from the Joker’s custom Lambo when he dumps it off a bridge, with a strong hint the Joker has left Harley to drown.
Part of this is just that the Joker is at least partially involved in whatever’s unfolding in the movie’s main plot. If you pay attention, you’ll notice that the footage of Joker in a tux is likely taking place during the squad’s assault. But Harley getting so much screen time is definitely curious in a team movie, especially as she seems to also be the comic relief and has no shortage of action bits.
DC may be testing the waters to see if there’s any interest in a solo Harley Quinn movie. Harley is currently one of their most successful characters on the page, and tellingly, DC has blocked off two dates in the coming years. One is almost certainly Ben Affleck’s Batman movie, coming 2018, but the second is a big, open question. Especially in light of Wonder Woman stealing Batman V. Superman, and Marvel taking a substantial amount of flack from fans about the lack of any superheroine movie, DC might see an opportunity there. We likely won’t find out for a while, but if Suicide Squad is a hit, don’t be surprised if Harley strikes out on her own.