Margot Robbie Has Explained How ‘Birds Of Prey’ Does (And Doesn’t) Connect To ‘Suicide Squad’

Much like how Aquaman had little to do with Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, where Jason Momoa made his DC debut, the connections between Suicide Squad and Birds of Prey are few and far between. Put another way, anyone expecting a direct sequel to the David Ayer-directed movie will be disappointed; but anyone hoping for a good movie should be excited. That being said, the Harley Quinn spin-off, starring Margot Robbie and her girl gang but not Jared Leto, won’t totally ignore Suicide Squad.

“It’s very much like the comic books where you pick up in a totally different place, and it doesn’t directly link to what happened before,” Robbie told Total Film. “But at the same time it’s not such a leap that you’re like, ohh, what’s going on” Director Cathy Yan added that although Birds of Prey is “definitely a standalone movie,” there are nods to Suicide Squad, like Harley having the same mallet. “It was fun to create our own movie, and to not feel like it had to be a sequel or a continuation of Suicide Squad,” she said.

As for The Suicide Squad, the also-not-a-sequel directed by Guardians of the Galaxy‘s James Gunn, Robbie says that it will “look different” than Birds of Prey, “but like the comics, it doesn’t cancel out one or the other.” The only one canceled here is the Joker.

Birds of Prey and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn opens on February 7, 2020, followed by The Suicide Squad on August 6, 2021.