Here’s Why Birds of Prey Gives Harley Quinn a Drastic New Look

Harley Quinn will begin a new phase of her life in the upcoming Birds of Prey movie. She’s left the Joker behind and is starting anew. With this fresh start comes a fresh look courtesy of Birds of Prey costume designer Erin Benach. The first glimpse at Harley’s change in style from her Debbie Harry-inspired Suicide Squad look came via the first Birds of Prey teaser. Harley (played again by Margot Robbie) appeared in a red velvet halter top wearing a DIY coat made with caution tape. Speaking to Collider, Benach explained how she came up with Harley’s new look.

“Behind her story is always something a little bit off from center and a little bit crazy, with the idea being that caution tape may be a place to stay away from, and maybe it’s a way to caution the world against what she might do,” Benach says. “So, we kind of took the idea of that caution tape and tried to repurpose it into a costume. We always wanted to create something that felt like Harley made it herself, so she’s sort of a crafty person in the backroom and she can make stuff herself — you know the shorts that she’s painted and the jacket that she’s put together herself. That’s why we did it like that. It’s fun and a little bit crazy like her.”

It all begins with Harley splitting from Joker. Robbie went into more detail about Harley and Joker’s relationship during a press visit to the Birds of Prey set. “The first film, is that her relationship with Joker always did confuse me the most,” Robbie said. “That was the thing that took me the longest to get my head around. In this film though we’re exploring her not being with Joker. And I actually understand the break-up. That’s something I feel like everyone can kind of understand and relate to in some ways. Though she deals with–like she blows things up, I don’t do that. I understand the motivation that spurred on that train of thought.

“I think something I explored a lot in Suicide Squad, the first film, was Harley’s co-dependence with the Joker. And obviously, he has a huge influence on her. But, obviously, she was very much in a relationship with him when we first saw Harley onscreen in Suicide Squad. And I did want to explore what is the version of Harley out of a relationship, and whether she’s out of a relationship on her own accord or he’s kind of kicked her to the curb. But it still affects her, but in a very different way. And I thought we’d see a very different facet of her personalities. Personalities, I would say. Because I think she has multiple.”

Birds of Prey (And The Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) opens in theaters on February 7th. Other upcoming DC Films movies include Wonder Woman 1984 on June 5th, The Batman on June 25, 2021, The Suicide Squad on August 6, 2021, Black Adam on December 22, 2021, Shazam! 2 on April 1, 2022, Super Pets on May 20, 2022, The Flash on July 1, 2022, and Aquaman 2 on December 16, 2022.