Life after the Joker: Harley Quinn finds a new gang in Birds of Prey trailer

Margot Robbie chewing up the scenery as love-crazed villain Harley Quinn was one of the best things about the 2016 DCEU film, Suicide Squad—so much so that Warner Bros. and DC Films have been developing a trilogy of films focusing on the character. Now we have a trailer for the first of those: Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of Harley Quinn). And while it's still far too early to make a call one way or the other as to the film's merits, it looks like it could be a lot of R-rated Harley-centric fun.

Birds of Prey is based on the long-running comic series of the same name, originally focused on Barbara Gordon (daughter of James Gordon), aka Batgirl. Barbara reinvents herself as the Oracle after an encounter with the Joker paralyzes her from the waist down. Oracle teams up with Black Canary, an accomplished martial artist with an ultrasonic superpower known as the "Canary Cry." Various other characters have come and gone over the course of the series, most notably (for current purposes) a former mafia princess turned vigilante dubbed Huntress.

(Some spoilers for Suicide Squad below.)

Harley Quinn also appears occasionally in the comics as part of a team dubbed The Secret Six (which also includes Deadshot), but the film version places her squarely centerstage. Screenwriter Christina Hodson wanted to reinvent the crazed psychiatrist, so in the film, Harley's rocky, abusive relationship with the Joker has ended, leaving her at loose ends. She eventually joins forces with Black Canary (Jurnee Smollett-Bell), Huntress (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), and Renee Montoya (Rosie Perez)—a former police detective who goes by the Question in the comics—to protect a young girl named Cassandra Cain from sadistic crime lord Black Mask. (In the comics, Cassandra is the third incarnation of Batgirl.)

The trailer opens with Harley drunkenly confiding in Black Canary at a bar. "You know what a harlequin is?" she slurs. "A harlequin's role is to serve. It's nothing without a master." We see her cutting off her blue-dyed ponytail and engaging in target practice with the Joker's image—all part of the emancipation process invoked by the film's subtitle. As Edith Piaf croons on the soundtrack, we also meet Huntress and a brutal crime lord named Roman Sionis (Ewan McGregor), aka Black Mask.

It seems Black Mask is hoping to be Harley's new master ("You need me, Quinn), and she's not interested. When Harley comes to the aid of young Cassandra Cain (Ella Jay Basco), she further incurs his wrath. Black Canary, Huntress, and Renee Montoya are also being chased by Black Mask, so they all team up to take on the crime lord once and for all, figuring they have a better chance of defeating him as a group. Oh, and there's also a crazed serial killer, Victor Zsasz (Chris Messina), who carves his own face to mark each of his kills.

As for where we'll next see Harley Quinn, she's slated to appear in the upcoming movie Gotham City Sirens—which means we might see her teaming up with Catwoman and Poison Ivy—and in as-yet-untitled film focusing on her relationship with the Joker. Robbie will also reprise the role in a "soft reboot" called The Suicide Squad, currently slated for an August 2021 release, with Guardians of the Galaxy director James Gunn at the helm.

Birds of Prey hits theaters February 7, 2020.

Listing image by YouTube/Warner Bros.