James Gunn believes Margot Robbie can shape Harley Quinn’s future in the revamped DCU.
Gunn, the co-head of DC Studios alongside Peter Safran, stated on The Suicide Squad: Is It Canon? The Official Podcast that he would be happy to include her Harley in the new iteration of the franchise, should she wish. Otherwise, the DCU co-head might try to get a replacement.
“I don’t know if she wants to play Harley again. She may be over that,” Gunn said.
He participated in the special podcast dedicated to The Suicide Squad, which will be released on Friday. Gunn answers fan questions about what canon from the 2021 film survives in the new DCU. Other participants include Jennifer Holland, star of the Peacemaker series and Gunn’s wife, and Steve Agee.
Gunn reveals that Robbie is “one of my favorite actors to work with” and praised her performance in “The Suicide Squad.”
However, Holland mentioned that, over the years, Robbie became one of the most recognizable names in Hollywood. Gunn described her as “the biggest female star in the world right now,” saying he had no idea about Robbie’s intentions.
“I don’t know where Margot’s head is with all of this,” Gunn explained. “Harley is a character I’m almost certainly going to use in the DCU, and if Margot wants to play her, then I’ll bend over backwards to explain that in the world.”
“But if she doesn’t, then I might go with somebody else where I don’t have to be attached to what happens to Harley in this movie,” Gunn also mentioned.
Almost the whole of “The Suicide Squad” survives within the new universe. The only exception, of course, is Harley Quinn herself.
“I’d say, we have one small asterisk, which is: what exactly is the future of Harley Quinn?” he said. “I want to be given a little leeway with this by the fans because I’m not sure exactly how that’s going to manifest itself.”
Of course, there’s a problem with The Joker himself. Robbie’s Harley Quinn first appeared in 2016 as the Joker’s partner (played by Jared Leto), but for now, this character has yet to appear in the new universe.
“We definitely haven’t established the Joker yet in the DCU at all,” Gunn said when the topic came up. He called Harley “one of the more difficult things in this to justify as being canon in the DCU.”
Robbie first played the iconic Harley Quinn in David Ayer’s 2016 Suicide Squad. Then she portrayed her once again in Birds of Prey (produced by Robbie) in 2020, and also in Gunn’s 2021 sequel. All of these films were part of the DC Extended Universe, which Gunn and Safran took control of in 2022.
Meanwhile, Robbie starred in Babylon, Barbie and Wuthering Heights. Barbie grossed $1,4 billion globally in 2023. She is also set to produce and star in Tim Burton’s Attack of the Fifty Foot Woman remake.
Gunn has repeatedly mentioned the desire to continue working with her. In January 2024, Gunn wrote on Threads: “I haven’t talked to Margot about Harley in a long time. But I’d love to work with her again as Harley or as someone else.” At the same time, he assured that there are “no plans at this time for anyone else to play Harley.”
This comment follows Robbie’s statements to Variety that she has always wanted to pass the character to different actors. One of them, namely Lady Gaga, already played Harley Quinn in 2024’s Joker: Folie à Deux.
When asked in August 2025 whether she intends to reprise the role, Gunn said only, “That will be revealed down the line.”
The new DCU premiered back in July 2025 with Superman featuring David Corenswet. Gunn managed to keep many actors from his previous DCU movies, including John Cena (as Peacemaker) and Viola Davis (as Amanda Waller).
During the podcast, Gunn said there are still hopes for a Waller series.
“Viola would like to continue,” he said. “We were strongly developing a Waller show that we never greenlit because it didn’t get to where we wanted it to be. That doesn’t mean it’s totally out of development.”
Gunn also said the studio is close to casting its own Batman, who will appear in The Brave and the Bold.
“It won’t be too long before we’re casting Batman,” Gunn said.
