Harley Quinn Fans Already Hate Joker 2, See Why
Harley Quinn fans aren't happy Joker and Harley being an item in Joker 2 rather than Harley and Poison Ivy.
A lot of Harley Quinn fans are unhappy with yet another Harley/Joker romance coming in Joker 2, for a very specific reason: because it pairs Harley with Joker instead of matching her with Poison Ivy. Not long after Joker: Folie à Deux writer/director Todd Phillips celebrated Valentine’s Day by tweeting the first image from the upcoming sequel, some fans followed him onto the platform to express their disappointment. In particular, a number of fans pointed out Harley’s pairing with Ivy in other media as a reason to be spared Folie à Deux.
As the fans above point out, Harley and Poison Ivy have not only been romantically involved in the comics, but the pair — voiced by Kaley Cuoco (Harley) and Lake Bell (Ivy) — are also a couple in HBO Max’s animated Harley Quinn series. Still, rather than settle for the couple being together only in those stories, the fans want Harley Quinn and Ivy to continue their romance in a live action film like Joker 2.
One might argue that so far Todd Phillips’s Joker saga has been grounded in a more “real” world setting that wouldn’t make sense for a green-skinned character who psychically controls killer plants. You also might rightly point out that even though Harley is no longer with Joker in the DCU, in the comics, or in the Harley Quinn series, that Joker 2 will presumably give us the first meeting between these versions of the characters and in all of those previous examples Harley starts off coupled with her “Puddin’.” Regardless, there is one thing the fan below points out that helps lend these complaints some weight.
The fan above writes “please give margot her poison ivy this girl has been asking for it for years,” and they’re not wrong. As recently as December, Margot Robbie told PEOPLE that in terms of getting a live-action portrayal of the Harley Quinn/Poison ivy romance, “I have been pushing for that for years.” Considering that, it’s perhaps a bit more understandable why fans are frustrated with getting yet one more version of the Harley Quinn and Joker romance in Joker 2.
Regardless, it does seem like the soon-to-be-rebooted DCU would be a much more likely place for a live-action adaptation of the Harley/Ivy romance. With Margot Robbie’s Quinn already enduring her time with the Clown Prince of Crime, there’s no reason to rehash that tale.
Not to mention that Poison Ivy is one of the few prominent Batman villains who has yet to make a live-action feature debut in the 21st century, meaning she’s ripe for the opportunity. Live action series like Gotham and Batwoman have had their versions, but on the big screen there’s been no live action Ivy since Uma Thurman’s stab at her in 1997’s epic bomb Batman & Robin.
