New ‘Gotham’ Photo Teases Character’s Possible Change into Harley Quinn

Harley Quinn is coming to Gotham! That’s according to executive producer John Stephens, who, in an interview right ahead of season 3, said, “We might see [her] in Episode 22,” Now, with the end of the season quickly approaching, a new promo photo is lending more credence to a long-standing fan theory that Harley has been there the whole time.

Erin Richards as Barbara Kean on <em>Gotham.</em> (Photo credit: Fox)
Erin Richards as Barbara Kean on Gotham. (Photo credit: Fox)

The photo is of Erin Richards, who plays Barbara Kean, and shows her character in a red and black ensemble, with her face half illuminated in light. It seems like it’s definitely designed to evoke comparisons to Harley Quinn’s classic comic look of the red and black getup and white face paint.

In addition, executive producer Danny Cannon didn’t deny the possibility, instead stating, “I can’t. I can’t. All I can tell you is, the great thing, the joy of working with Erin is the range. The reason we changed her character [is] because we knew what she could do. We’re like, ‘We can’t keep you in one place. You’ve got to keep evolving.’ So she’s going to evolve again. That’s all I can tell you.”

Barbara has also had a number of pivotal scenes with Jerome Valeska, played by Cameron Monaghan. A lot of fans believe Valeska will turn into the Joker, which seems more and more possible given his signature maniacal grin and laugh and the fact that his face is now covered in scars.

Some fans have been quick to point out that Barbara’s storyline doesn’t closely enough mimic Harley Quinn’s, as Harley is known for being a former psychiatrist who was twisted and turned insane by the Joker, and she’s also several years younger than both Batman and the Joker, which Barbara clearly is not, but the show has been known to play around with characters’ origin stories before.

Gotham airs Mondays at 8 p.m. on Fox. Watch clips and full episodes of Gotham for free on Yahoo View.

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Tell us what you think! Do you think the show is setting up Barbara to turn into Harley Quinn, or is it all just a big misdirect? Hit us up on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram or leave your comments below. And check out our host, Khail Anonymous, on Twitter.