i don't "drill down" based on looks alone. I hate the New 52/SS Harley quinn because she's not the same character in a nything but name, she acts nothing like classic Harley (being more vicious and bloodthirsty in the New 52 comics, with a huge amount of Deadpool added in). That's why I hate the New 52 Harley. A stupid costume is a stupid costume. If the character is written well, its just something to roll your eyes at. The fact that neither the New 52 or Suicide Squad versions of Harley have any relation to the character Paul Dini created outside of a name and loose backstory is what makes me angry.
I presume, when you refer to
Suicide Squad, you are referring to the Nu52 comic and not Ayers film (and given the predicted opening weekend numbers,
films). I don't read modern Superhero comics any more (outside of Scott Snyders Batman run), and I've never read a comic with Harley in it full stop. So I don't have the vitriol pent up inside me about the changes that have been made to the character since Dini introduced her, I'll leave that cross in your knowledgeable grip.
Yet..
Also, if Ayers doesn't like Marvel films (what I consider the best superhero films ever), then it makes sense that he is using none of the original DC characters in his movie, just a bunch of brand new characters he's created and then slapped some DC names on. Marvel uses the comics as a base, takes good stuff from them and adds/changes things to fit movies.
And you base this on what exactly? Point to an article, an interview, a tweet, a snapchat video where Ayer smacks down the truth - your sacrosanct DC characters are nothing but masks and costumes for me to piss all over!! <cue maniacal laugh> His comments have mostly been about the over-arcing similar structure that both Marvel AND DCU films have played out over the past decade, with barely one-dimensional villains propping up the heroes journey. It is a successful formula, no doubt, and Marvel certainly have nailed it. But the most common criticism of those films, from fans and professional critics alike is, outside of Loki and Heaths Joker, most movie comic book villains have been utterly rote (if not embarrassingly simplistic). Ayer wants to try to shift that paradigm a touch. And he's an antagonist at heart, speaking his mind. At this point, NONE of us have any real notion how Ayer has treated Joker, Harley, Croc etc, cos, you know, not August yet. But because he has stumped up for Harley's Nu52/Rebirth look, he must be out to completely turn his back on the entire DC mythos? I've said it above, I don't like this stylised hypersexual, frankly misogynistic-fuelled look of Harley, but then I can see why a girl in a twin-point hat would look ridiculous. Ayer has checks in the "negative" column from the trailers for her outfit from me, but it, along with Joker, fit the neon-lit style he is going for. Some of the OTT'ness of the visuals harken back even to Schumacher days of Batman, which doesn't sit right with me either.
The DCEU (actually, you can include the Nolan Batman movies, too) barely takes names/powers from comics, and are not shy in showing how ashamed they are of their source material. You can like it if you want, but I hate it. I don't want in name only characters. They did those kind of superhero movies/TV shows for decades. Its time to make superhero stuff that uses the comics and the things that have made the characters endure to make good movies. At least, that's the MCU's philosophy, and its part of why they are kicking the DCEU's butt at the box office.
I think the thing that appears to be distinctly different about the DCEU vs Marvel, is that, until a few weeks ago, DC didn't have a Kevin Feige masterminding the entire operation. For better or worse (read interviews, Michelle McClaren, Alan Taylor, Edgar Wright, even Joss Whedon), Feige has a map in his head and the style, the structure, the characters are all bound by his blueprints.
Guardians of the Galaxy may have had a few original cues, but, after all the hype that it was going to "break the mould", it was exactly the same as most of the other Marvel films, just with a CGI raccoon (Great fun, still). The DCEU has previously allowed a more director-led view of the universe, which has given completely different styles and tones. Nolan had one tone, Snyder had another. I liked Nolan's, I loathed Snyder's. And, after Wonder Woman (given it was hip deep into production before the media calamity
BvS was) I would expect this to change significantly now that Geoff Johns is roadmapping for the DCEU. I'll agree that Snyder's take on Batman, Superman, etc is
way off track and he appears to have stuffed unknown entities into well known costumes, but thus far, I have seen nothing from Ayer that suggests he is going to throw out known character and fill his costumes with his own cyphers.
As
Christopher rightly pointed out, for every comic character out there, there is a multiverse of interpretations. Which leads to the problem... which one do
*I* like and which one suits the story *
I* want to tell? I don't like Superman as a character, so I am not militant towards
any representation put on the screen, only whether it makes internal sense to the universe created around him and whether he is entertaining or not (regularly not). I love multiple different variants on Batman, be it the 66 TV version, Loeb's version, Scott Snyders. I don't like Frank Millers (I don't like much of Frank Millers
anything to be, well, frank) so I was almost set up to dislike
BvS and when Snyder not only committed to style of the work, but then managed to utterly misinterpret the central tenants of the Batman character as a whole, he completely lost me.
Ayer has stated his creation is a mesh of honouring canon with ideas pulled from multiple comic stories and characters from lots of different sources (
http://collider.com/suicide-squad-reshoots-david-ayer-batman/). I guess it will be a lottery
which Deadshot you get, or which Harley he offers. But just because he has gone with the modern
look of Harley does not mean he is jettisoning
all of her history and character traits. And, from the tone and inference of your post, he (like Snyder) would not be doing it out of spite or carelessness. For all his misinterpretation of the characters, Snyder honestly felt he was offering a true representation of Batman and Superman. He crafted it out of his own respect for the characters, no matter how misguided. Ayer seems to be on the same track. Let us hope he understands nuances better than Snyder
Hugo
