The DC Extended Universe is no longer the interconnected Marvel Cinematic Universe wannabe it once tried to be, and that has proved to be extremely beneficial to Warner Bros. While films like Aquaman and Shazam! reference other characters, they're also able to serve as standalone features.
Harley Quinn: Birds of Prey was somewhere in the middle as the badass girl gang movie referenced Suicide Squad, but did nothing to set the stage for James Gunn's The Suicide Squad.
The Hollywood Reporter asked director Cathy Yan whether the studio pushed for DCEU crossovers, and the filmmaker confirmed that (mostly) wasn't the case. "Yes and no. They were pretty supportive and hands-off in terms of that specific thing of having it connect to this film, the next film or anything like that. We paid homage where we felt it was appropriate."
"I also thought it would be very jarring to see Harley Quinn, played by Margot Robbie, in a completely different look," Yan continued. "So, we kept her tattoos, but then we also doctored them and grounded them in character and what she was going through. The 'J' turned into the mermaid, and 'pudding' was turned into 'pudding cups.' We kept her hair, and we thought, 'What if she’s not taking care of it as well? What if it just kinda grows out?'"
Yan would go on to explain that it was important to them to change the character's appearance to show that she had evolved since being so closely invovled with The Joker. She also acknowledged that Suicide Squad made it clear that Harley Quinn was the Clown Prince of Crime's property, and it was important to show the ways that had changed as she dealt with their breakup.
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