Margot Robbie and Jared Leto linked to Harley Quinn vs. The Joker spin-off movie

One of the darkest romances in comic books may become the focal point of its own DC Extended Universe movie.

Margot Robbie and Jared Leto are poised to reprise their ‘Suicide Squad’ roles in the provisionally-titled ‘Harley Quinn vs. The Joker,’ according to a new report at Screen Rant.

While nothing is known at present about this project beyond the attachment of Robbie, Leto and producer Geoff Johns, Screen Rant suggest it’s possible we’ll learn more following the DC panel at San Diego Comic Con later today.

It’s fair to say that writer-director David Ayer’s ‘Suicide Squad’ proved a very divisive film. While it performed handsomely enough at the box office, taking $745.6 million worldwide, it was mostly trashed by critics (25% at Rotten Tomatoes), and was not warmly embraced by all audiences.

Even so, Robbie’s take on Harley Quinn proved popular, helping elevate the Australian actress’s star status (and making Harley Quinn the most popular Halloween costume of 2016). The role also gave Robbie the clout at Warner Bros/DC to push forward ‘Gotham City Sirens,’ a female-focused feature that will team Harley with an as-yet uncast Poison Ivy and Catwoman, which Robbie will also produce with David Ayer directing again.

However, Jared Leto’s flamboyant take on The Joker did not win over audiences quite so well. Many objected to the heavily tattooed, musclebound representation of the beloved Batman villain, and the ‘Dallas Buyer’s Club’ Oscar-winner’s excessive performance suffered in comparison with his predecessors in the role, Jack Nicholson and the late Heath Ledger.

On top of all this, ‘Suicide Squad’s representation of Harley/’Mr J’ as a love story proved controversial, prompting widespread complaints that the film overly romanticised a relationship based on physical and psychological abuse.

Of course, if Warner Bros/DC are using the working title ‘Harley Quinn vs The Joker,’ this would seem to suggest that the film may acknowledge The Joker’s mistreatment of Harley – and as has occurred in the comics, we may see her turn against him.

Just where ‘Harley Quinn vs The Joker’ might fit in the current DCEU slate – and whether we can expect it before or after ‘Gotham City Sirens’ – is anyone’s guess right now. Again, hopefully we’ll learn more after DC’s SDCC panel.

In the meantime, we can expect to see Margot Robbie reprise Harley Quinn for the first time in ‘Suicide Squad 2,’ which is expected to go into production mid-2018. Director Jaume Collet-Serra is in talks to call the shots on the sequel, and – at present – Jared Leto is not expected to appear.

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