Is The Joker in Birds of Prey?

Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) has arrived in theaters answering one big question on the minds of DC Comics fans: Is the Joker in the movie? The film is centered around Harley Quinn emphatically cutting ties with the Joker after their toxic relationship was on display in 2016’s Suicide Squad movie. As a result, Harley Quinn has opened herself up to a lot of the threats which were unable to touch her when she was under the protection of Mr. J. In Birds of Prey, the Joker’s presence is very much a factor, but is he in the movie?

Warning: Spoilers for Birds of Prey follow!

There is no new footage of the Joker in Birds of Prey, although flashbacks to Suicide Squad show Harley’s transformation into the fan-favorite wild woman she is now. In a quick snippet of footage, the back of the Joker’s head is seen but that is the closest the movie comes to including Jared Leto‘s character. Throughout the film, several bits of imagery such as a drawing of the character make their way into the movie but it is clear that the movie wanted to emancipate itself from the DC Comics villain.

There was never much consideration of tying the film to an appearance from Joker, although some familiar props and costume pieces did make their way into the movie. “This is such a fun movie, so we’d just throw out different ideas, really,” director Cathy Yan told ComicBook.com about tying the film to its predecessor in Suicide Squad. “It’d be like, ‘Couldn’t we just do that?’ I have always loved the look of the bat and the mallet from Suicide Squad, and so, it’s like, ‘Why change something that isn’t broken?’”

“[Birds of Prey] was designed to be its own thing, standalone, singular,” producer Sue Kroll told ComicBook.com.

There is no word on whether or not Leto will reprise the role of Joker in the DC Comics film any time soon after much his work on Suicide Squad was cut from the film when heavy reshoots altered its third act. In the case of Birds of Prey, reshoots ultimately enhanced the final product of the film as some action sequences were given some extra polish.

Did you catch any ties or teases of the Joker or The Suicide Squad in Birds of Prey? Share them in the comment section or send them my way on Instagram or Twitter!

Birds of Prey is now playing in theaters.