Margot Robbie, who plays Harley Quinn in the latest DC movies, says she has been 'pestering' DC to include a same-sex relationship between her character and Poison Ivy in the DC cinematic universe.
Suicide Squad star Margot Robbie has revealed she’s pushing for a Poison Ivy-Harley Quinn romance in the DC films.
The Australian actor portrays Harley Quinn – the frequent accomplice and lover of the Joker – in the DC movies Suicide Squad, Birds of Prey and a couple of upcoming DC movies. Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy – the botanist Dr Pamela Isley turned supervillain – have an intimate relationship in the DC comics, and have even been married.
Margot Robbie said in an interview with Den of Geek that she is “pestering” DC to allow her Harley Quinn character and Poison Ivy to get together.
“Trust me, I chew their ear off about it all the time,” she said. “They must be sick of hearing it, but I’m like ‘Poison Ivy, Poison Ivy. Come on, let’s do it’. I’m very keen to see a Harley-Poison Ivy relationship on screen.”
She continued: “It’d be so fun. So I’ll keep pestering them. Don’t worry.”
In the comics, Harley, whose name is Dr Harleen Quinzel, worked as a psychiatrist at Gotham City’s Arkham Asylum when she met the Joker and eventually becomes a supervillain in her own right. She also joins with Poison Ivy and Catwoman to create the supervillain group, the Gotham City Sirens.
DC revealed in 2017 that Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn are officially a couple, and the franchise confirmed in the Birds of Prey movie that Harley Quinn is bisexual.
The supervillains’ queer romance is the driving narrative for the second season of the Harley Quinn animated series, and the pair share a romantic kiss in one episode. And the upcoming DC Pride LGBT+ anthology, which will be released on 8 June, will even feature a story that revolves around Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn.
Robbie has been repeatedly pushing for her Harley Quinn to be involved in an same-sex relationship over the years. In a 2018 interview with Pridesource, she said: “I would love to have Poison Ivy thrown into the universe because the Harley and Poison Ivy relationship is one of my favourite aspects of the comics so I’m looking to explore that on screen.”
She added that she was “open-minded” about who could play Poison Ivy. Robbie admitted she had “thought about it a lot”, but she said “there’s no one person who springs to mind”.
It’s unclear when or if Poison Ivy will next be introduced into the DC cinematic universe. The last time fans saw Poison Ivy on screen she was portrayed by Uma Thurman in the 1997 film Batman & Robin.
But the character has appeared in other places across the DC universe. Poison Ivy is featured in the Batman: Arkham video game series. She also pops up frequently the Fox live-action, crime drama Gotham, which explores the origin stories of Commissioner James Gordon and the gallery of villains that made Gotham City infamous.