Exclusive: Margot Robbie Getting Creative Control At DC Thanks To James Gunn
James Gunn is giving Margot Robbie creative control at DC, and she wants Gugu Mbatha-Raw as Poison Ivy.
Margot Robbie is about to get a lot more creative freedom at the newly formed DC Studios, thanks to her former The Suicide Squad director, James Gunn. According to our trusted and proven sources, the positive work collaboration between Margot Robbie and James Gunn has resulted in the Amsterdam star being given a much freer hand in her DC projects, which makes sense considering her Harley Quinn character has been one of the few bright spots of Warner Bros. Discovery’s franchise. Additionally, it seems that Margot Robbie wants actress Gugu Mbatha-Raw to play a version of Batman villain Poison Ivy for the DC Universe.
Margot Robbie has been involved with the DC Universe of film since starring as Harley Quinn/Dr. Harleen Quinzel in the 2016 Suicide Squad film; while almost every other aspect of Suicide Squad was negatively reviewed, Robbie was the breakout star. Since then, Margot Robbie has reprised the character in both Birds of Prey in 2020 and The Suicide Squad in 2021, which was the film that brought James Gunn into the fold. While The Suicide Squad did not gross anything near to the first film (largely due to the Covid-19 pandemic and the movie being released simultaneously in theaters and on HBO Max), it was much more critically well-reviewed.
Since then, James Gunn was named co-chair and co-CEO of DC Studios (along with producer Peter Safran), which will be in charge of all future DC projects except the upcoming Joker: Folie à Deux. It seems Margot Robbie is going to have more of a creative hand in future DC projects, which also makes sense. Robbie has been increasingly moving into behind-the-scenes roles with her production company LuckyChap Entertainment, so it is only logical that she would do the same at Warner Bros. Discovery.
That Margot Robbie wants Gugu Mbatha-Raw (best known for Black Mirror and the Marvel series Loki) to join the DC Universe as Poison Ivy is a promising sign that more Harley Quinn projects are in development. Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy have frequently been paired together in various DC projects, as alternately criminal partners, friends, or romantic interests (and sometimes all three). On the HBO Max animated show Harley Quinn, the title character (voiced by Kaley Cuoco) and Poison Ivy aka Dr. Pamela Isley (voiced by Lake Bell) are essentially co-leads, which has led to strong fan loyalty to the series.
As such, it seems inevitable that we would eventually get Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn with a live-action Poison Ivy in some future DC projects. There have been persistent rumors of both a sequel to Birds of Prey and a potential Gotham Sirens project in the works (possibly with Olivia Wilde being brought in to direct), and it sounds like Robbie is getting increased authority to make it happen. In all the continual chaos that has been the modern DC Universe, Margot Robbie has been a consistent bright spot, so good on DC and James Gunn for letting her do her thing.
