8 Comic Book Characters Hollywood Will Never Understand

7. Harley Quinn & Joker

Now obviously the Joker has been the subject of multiple stellar portrayals in movie history (and only one genuinely abject one), but with Harley Quinn now factored into the onscreen equation too, it seems as though Warner Bros. are all confused, as was evidenced by the portrayal of the pair's relationship in Suicide Squad, as well as the move to make a Joker/Harley spin-off made by the makers of The Hangover.

Margot Robbie is a fantastic Harley, and the actor is set to make waves with the Birds of Prey some time in the future, but it feels as though WB haven't modernised where the comics previously have. It isn't difficult to see that Quinn's relationship with the Clown Prince is abusive, as it was depicted that way since Batman: The Animated Series and later in the comics too, but Suicide Squad somehow ended up depicting it in an almost romantic light, which is a huge red light as far as DC should be concerned.

If WB can't be trusted to depict their relationship with its sinister undertones, then they shouldn't bother at all. The studio have already illustrated that they're capable of depicting Joker by himself, and it's almost inevitable that Robbie's portrayal of Harleen will benefit from the absence of Leto's Joker, but it still remains a relationship they're looking to capitalise on in the future.

Ewan Paterson

WhatCulture's very own resident movie guy, Ewan has been working in the content creation biz for over 10 years now, having started as a freelance contributor to WhatCulture Gaming all the way back in 2015. After graduating with a First-Class Honours in History from Northumbria University in 2017 (where he won a prize for a totally killer dissertation on the Watergate years), Ewan took on the role of Comics Editor at WhatCulture and quickly developed WhatCulture Comics into one of the biggest superhero-focused channels on YouTube. He followed this with a brief hiatus at Screen Rant in 2021, where he worked across the Gaming and Film sections as a writer and editor, before returning to WhatCulture as a Senior Content Producer / Presenter in 2023. He started his own podcast, We Love Dad Movies, in 2022, and has contributed several written pieces to the Eisner-nominated comics website Shelfdust as well. In his current role, Ewan incorporates his love of cinema, comic books, and history into written pieces and video essays for WhatCulture's Film & TV channel, as well as WhatCulture Gaming and WhatCulture Horror, with a particular focus on nineties-era Dad Movies, old school Westerns, and Golden Age Hollywood Noir. John Carpenter is his fave, and he thinks Batman Beyond should never have been cancelled. If that's your vibe, you'll probably like his stuff.

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