Fans are finally able to flock to theaters to see the latest DC Comics movie Birds of Prey, featuring the bonkers return of Harley Quinn as she takes on a new menacing crime lord of Gotham City, having ditched Joker after the events of Suicide Squad. The new movie is comical and zany, leaning heavily into Harley’s own psychosis as she teams up with fellow heroes like Black Canary and Huntress. And given that it’s being released in an election year, fans shouldn’t be surprised to see the movie get a bit political, even if it’s done with tongue firmly planted in cheek.
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In the movie, Harley Quinn is trying to recall why Black Mask hates her and is trying to kill her, running through a laundry list of reasons. One of those reasons is revealed to be that she voted for Bernie Sanders, confirming that the senator exists in the DC Universe.
Birds of Prey director Cathy Yan spoke about the idea of making Bernie canon in the DC film, explaining that it came out of humor rather than making any grand political statement.
“With the grievances we were just kinda coming up with different grievances, and I would throw some ideas in, and [screenwriter] Christina Hodson would throw some ideas in,” Yan told TheWrap. “I think the Bernie thing, I’ll give full credit to Christina on that one. And we all just chuckled at it so we thought, why not? And I think tonally and stylistically this is a movie that can afford that kind of stuff, and a little bit of self-awareness — or a lot of self-awareness, I should say. And not a lot of movies get to make a Bernie joke, so sure, let’s do it.”
It’s funny that Harley’s political leanings came out as she was recounting all of the awful things she’s done, which is exactly the point because Harley is a villain at heart. Robbie previously spoke with CinemaBlend about this point, explaining that they didn’t want to make her a hero.
“Sometimes I’m like, that is not what she would do. I think there’s the temptation to, at least in this version because Cathy was definitely interested in seeing this more vulnerable version of Harley. We all wanted to see like, ‘What does Harley order for breakfast when she’s hungover? What does Harley’s apartment look like?’ We did want to see that real-life side of her. But, I think there was a temptation. I think Cathy was loving the vulnerable, fun, and sweet version of Harley and I had to keep being like ‘She’s a bad person still.’ She can’t be good, she’s a s***** person.”
Birds of Prey is now playing in theaters.
Cover photo via Warner Bros. Pictures and Joe Raedle/Getty Images
