If you know the Joker and Harley Quinn in the comics, you know how their relationship is one of both love and hate. It's an abusive relationship at times and it seems like some of the many deleted scenes cut out of the theatrical release of SUICIDE SQUAD had a bigger focus on the Joker being abusive toward his love interest.
In fact, a new image from Rolling Stone Brazil (via Batman-News) shows Jared Leto's Joker being aggressively verbal toward Margot Robbie's Harley Quinn after he rescues her in the one, of too many, helicopter scene.
It can be assumed part of the studio executive meddling during editing and post-production was in fact cutting out too much of the Joker and Harley relationship. Part of what makes this relationship so engaging in the comics, and animated interpretations, is that the Joker can be such an asshole to her. She takes his punishment over and over again until, in the comics, she's fed up with his abuse and finally leaves him and becomes her own villainous woman.
We can only guess Warner Bros. thought this was too inappropriate to show their relationship because of its sensitive nature of woman being abused in real life. However, building this story up to showing Harley breaking free — whether in an alternate cut of SUICIDE SQUAD or perhaps in a future DC Extended Universe movie — would have been the perfect story arc for her. Showing how Harley becomes her own woman and villain without the Joker's abusive nature is something that needs to be shown on the big screen.
This is not the first time we've heard about more of the abuse of the Joker put on Harley in SUICIDE SQUAD as it was previously reported (read: unconfirmed rumor) that more of their abusive relationship had a bigger role in the film. To read more about those rumors, click here.
Sadly, this is the latest example of studio meddling behind the scenes with SUICIDE SQUAD. And while no definite word of a SUICIDE SQUAD extended cut for home release has comes to light the studio should really release a cut of the movie that's superior than its theatrical version. It's seems obvious a better version does exist, albeit sitting on the editing room floor right now.
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