Joker: Folie à Deux’s Risky Move to Strip Lady Gaga’s Harley Quinn Off of One Defining Quality Makes Her Worlds Apart From Margot Robbie’s Supervillain

Joker: Folie à Deux has become one of the most anticipated sequels in recent times, especially due to the epic reception of the original. Joaquin Phoenix will be seen once again in his Oscar-winning role, but the new addition of Lady Gaga as Harley Quinn is what is causing excitement in fans.

Gaga is bringing a lot of expectations because of her stardom as well as her latest acting chops. After all the recent teasers and trailers, now the question arises- how different will her portrayal be from what the audiences have seen before?

Lady Gaga’s Harley Quinn Won’t Be Anything Like Previous Versions

The director of Joker 2, Todd Phillips, has been quite vocal about Gaga’s version of Harley Quinn, and his comments hint that he has taken a bold step by stripping away some of her popular traits from previous portrayals.

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It looks like Lady Gaga‘s Harley Quinn will be much different from what DC fans usually expect. There will be no pigtails, no bubblegums, and no thick Brooklyn accent. In an interview with Variety, Phillips said,

The high voice, that accent, the gum-chewing and all that sort of sassy stuff that’s in the comics, we stripped that away. We wanted her to fit into this world of Gotham that we created from the first movie.

The teasers and trailer also show how different Gaga’s Harley Quinn look will be as compared to Margot Robbie‘s colorful and chaotic look. Gaga is seen wearing a scarlet jacket over a white shirt with black diamonds and, of course, eye makeup. It appears as if the director wanted her to be a reflection of Joaquin Phoenix‘s Joker.

Moreover, in an interview with Empire magazine (via Billboard), Phillips talked about the differences between Robbie’s and Gaga’s portrayals. He mentioned that Gaga’s Quinn is someone who idolizes serial killers. 

While there are some things that people would find familiar in her, it’s really Gaga’s own interpretation, and Scott [Silver, co-writer] and I’s interpretation. She became the way how [Charles] Manson had girls who idolized him. The way that sometimes these [imprisoned murderers] have people that look up to them.

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Phillips also said that he took inspiration from some comics and gave them his own take. The red and black color scheme looks to be inspired by Quinn’s original look in Batman: The Animated Series. 

Lady Gaga’s Approach Toward Harley Quinn and Margot Robbie’s Comments

Although Gaga has not shared much about the details of her character, she revealed one big change that fans will see in her character in Joker: Folie à Deux. In an interview with E! News, she said that her character will be known as Lee, and it “will be a very different Lee for people.”

In her interview with Access Hollywood, she echoed Phillips’ thoughts while mentioning that her version of Quinn would be hers and that “it’s very authentic to this movie and these characters.” In this context of personalizing the role, Robbie has said earlier to Variety,

I always wanted Harley to be a character that would get passed on to other actresses to play, the way there are so many iconic male characters. Harley’s so fun and can go in so many different directions. You put her in someone else’s hands, and it’s like, ‘What are they going to do with her?’

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In an interview with MTV News, Robbie also offered her well wishes to Gaga and expressed her joy in passing such an iconic role to the next actor, just like Batman. In the end, Gaga’s Harley Quinn was visioned to strip down the cartoonish elements from the character, and it looks like Phillips has successfully brought her to his film’s grounded reality.

Joker: Folie à Deux will be released in theaters on October 4, 2024.