Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League

You guys say Leto's Joker is widely despised (and online he certainly is), but general audiences liked him and Harley's Bonnie and Clyde dynamic. Him and Harley's Suicide Squad versions were all over the place on Halloween after Suicide Squad came out. Harley's other looks (minus the original from the cartoon) have never been as popular as her trashy Suicide Squad look. Leto's Joker was also well-received in the Zack Snyder cut of Justice League, even if that was never going to go anywhere.

If this game was meant to appeal to general audiences though, it's a massive failure on that front.

Edited by PhiSat on Mar 11th 2024 at 1:04:55 PM

Have seen plenty of people offline who despised the Leto Joker,tho.i can't sond the entire world population to know what proportion of people liked or dislike him, but for as many people disguised as him, I wouldn't be surprised if there were just as many or more who disliked him. Warner deciding not bringing him back for The Suicide Squad and marketing Bird of Prey as the fantabulous emancipation of Harley Quinn wasn't a coincidence, and was targeting general audiences.

Also adults Halloween costumes have many factors that don't make them the best metter to compare the relative popularity of this version.

And both films flopped hard despite one of them apparently being a more solid product. I'm not trying to pick a fight, Jared Leto acted deplorably on set and d a m a g e d is Narm incarnate, but there was an audience for his clown.

Edit because I anticipate a certain argument: I'm not saying Leto not being in the Suicide Squad sequels is the only reason they failed, I'm aware there were plenty of other factors involved in their failure. But I do remember many normal people/casual fans say they didn't want to see Birds of Prey because the Joker/Harley romance wasn't in it.

Edited by PhiSat on Mar 11th 2024 at 3:03:53 AM

Skull and Bones is apparently doing worse than this game if that's any consolation.

Man, that and this game really did trip and eat dirt.

Because Harley broke up with him OFF SCREEN. Because they didn't wanna recast so Harley just gets over him in one screen and then Harley just farts around with "Cassandra Cain" for the movie. Edit: BTW how do you fuck up Cass WB? Compare with the cartoon, which shows her on screen seeing Joker as an abusive man.

Edited by Mizerous on Mar 12th 2024 at 1:07:42 PM

The films don't even replace Joker with Ivy so Harley's other ship audience is ignored.

Leto did fine.

I know, crazy statement that may be.

But no one wants Harley and the Joker as a romantic couple when she's a hero.

The question is, do mainstream audiences actually want Harley as a hero?

The animated series has her trying to be a hero but she keeps sliding back into evil.

Multiversus, Telltale, the Gotham Knights game, Batwheels, all have her as a villainess.

The live action movies bomb as soon as they try selling her as a hero.

It might be less than fans want to see her with Joker than they just want her to stay a bad guy.

Uhhh even that idea seems kinda odd sure anti hero but like full on Bat Family? At that point she isn't really Harley anymore just another Bat character.

Edited by Mizerous on Mar 12th 2024 at 9:23:21 AM

I'd be OK with her as a hero...IF she shows genuine remorse for the evil she's done AND is no longer dating Joker. DC seems to want to have their cake and eat it too, and it's clearly not working.

That said I prefer "trying to be good but sucks at it".

It's possible that the proponents for hero Harley are just a very vocal fandom and that the general audience is content with her regardless of whether she's a hero or not.

It's nor like she's even written that differently as an anti-hero. As noted DC is very having your cake and eating it with her.

They want her to be considered a "hero" yet she's still portrayed as a remorselessly violent individual who has fun and makes joke over thr violent acts she committed and sees no problem acting chummy with heroes because she doesn't really care about anything.

I mean, Harley's movie and fandom in general is all for her being a hero.

It's just not a Superman or Batman level fandom.

Is it though? The movies where she is a hero of the piece are the ones that have bombed.

All factors point to The Suicide Squad bombing at the box office because it was on same-day streaming in the middle of a global pandemic. Given the critical reception I don't think Harley being among the film's main cast was much of an issue.

She hasn't starred in any work where she's a villain.

And generally every review seems like to like Margot Robbie as Harley just fine.

Edited by CharlesPhipps on Mar 12th 2024 at 7:06:56 AM

Harley as a hero can work it is just that no one seems to want to have her go through the journey of actually turning over a new leaf. They just want to skip the journey and get strait to the ending of she is now a hero.

While still being very violent and other kinds of a pest.

If they are serious about hero Harley she can't just be like female Deadpool. Either be like a Bat family character who abandons the clown look and adopt a more "heroic" costume or just keep her amoral not fully willing to redeem herself. Just like in this game now she hates Joker and cares about the Squad despite how Waller treats her like shit? Despite how she acted in Arkham Knight? Its just impossible to believe...

Edited by Mizerous on Mar 12th 2024 at 10:25:05 AM

So basically she's a Designated Hero.

I think this is less a Harley issue and more them pushing the notion this is somehow a follow up to the Arkham 'verse despite nothing about this game making any sort of sense for that 'verse.

Oh no they do this in other media. They even had a DCAU comic where Harley was suddenly in Task Force X for a minute despite that Waller being different from the DCEU version. This is synergy at work.

Edited by Mizerous on Mar 12th 2024 at 10:43:34 AM

Harley's portrayal as a hero is an issue because she's barely any different from being a villain. The only difference is that she doesn't work under the Joker anymore.

Yet she's still a criminal who does whatever she wants with no regard for collateral damage and is a brutal murderer.

And this creates no conflict with the hero community, with morally resolute characters like Batman and Cassandra Cain trusting her and liking her. Like this is an actual panel from the recent Birds of Prey run saying Harley "deserves way more respect than she gets."

Edited by slimcoder on Mar 12th 2024 at 7:45:10 AM

The original DCAU animated series at least mostly kept Harley a villain. Though even then she ultimately reforms and lives to be an old granny. Unfortunately for Harley, her granddaughters became unrepentant Jokerz despite her efforts.

I think the in-universe reason the Bat-family gives Harley a bit of a pass is because they understand she was the Joker's victim too. They also probably really want to believe that she's reformed since it validates the idea that people can truly change for the better.

Edited by M84 on Mar 12th 2024 at 10:55:40 PM

And generally every review seems like to like Margot Robbie as Harley just fine.

Critical Dissonance.