Birds of Prey Director Wasn’t Urged to Set Up Harley Quinn’s Appearance in The Suicide Squad

Director Cathy Yan says there were no requests from studio Warner Bros. to have Birds of Prey (And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) set up Harley Quinn's (Margot Robbie) forthcoming appearance in the James Gunn-directed The Suicide Squad. There Quinn will again be conscripted into service by ARGUS Director Amanda Waller (Viola Davis), who put together Task Force X — a government-sanctioned black-ops crew of expendable criminals consisting of Quinn, Deadshot (Will Smith), Captain Boomerang (Jai Courtney), Katana (Karen Fukuhara) and Killer Croc (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje) — in David Ayer's Suicide Squad, only loosely connected to Gunn's followup.

"No. Frankly, no," Yan told JOE.ie when asked whether any setups for The Suicide Squad were imposed on Birds of Prey. "I think that's what's so liberating about being a part of the DC Cinematic universe as a filmmaker right now, is that we really are able to just work on our movie and make it a standalone and original piece of work."

Birds of Prey producer Sue Kroll echoed those comments, noting a small connection exists in the form of a photo featuring the wanted Boomerang ahead of his return to the DC Extended Universe in The Suicide Squad.

"This was designed to be its own thing, standalone, singular, as is James' Suicide Squad," Kroll told ComicBook.com. "But because the world is the world, there are these very interesting organic connections, I think, that end up evolving, but there wasn't any kind of consultation among the filmmakers on the movies. And they, of course, started much later, as we were getting close to wrap, and so things were done pretty much independently."

Kroll continued, "But something like for example Boomerang, it's interesting, when they started shooting and planning [The] Suicide Squad, it evolved, his photo evolved out of that kind of conversation. So those kinds of connections, but very organic."

Peter Safran, a producer on The Suicide Squad, earlier told ComicBook.com Gunn's film is "not a sequel" to Ayer's 2016 blockbuster that grossed more than $700 million worldwide. The Suicide Squad is only loosely tethered to its predecessor, namely in the returns of Robbie's Harley and Courtney's Boomerang, back alongside Davis' Waller and Joel Kinnaman's Rick Flag.

Franchise newcomers premiering in The Suicide Squad include Idris Elba, Michael Rooker, Nathan Fillion, Sean Gunn, Peter Capaldi, David Dastmalchian, Storm Reid, Alice Braga, Pete Davidson, John Cena, and Taika Waititi.

Birds of Prey (And The Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) is now in theaters. The Suicide Squad releases August 6, 2021.