'Joker & Harley Quinn' Writers Tease A 'Bad Santa' Meets 'This Is Us' Mashup

One can be forgiven if they’re deeply confused as to what the hell is going on over at Warner Bros. and DC Films. The company’s Superman is likely leaving, their Batman is already (essentially) gone, and they’re shooting a new Joker movie different from the one introduced within the DCEU less than two years ago (got that?). It’s almost as if someone doesn’t understand coherent branding strategies over at these companies.

So yes, “The Joker,” starring Joaquin Phoenix and directed by Todd Phillips (“The Hangover” trilogy) is shooting now. But, DC Films has not given up on the other Joker character played by Jared Leto, first introduced into the DCEU in “Suicide Squad.” Nor have they forgotten about Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie), the breakout character from the “Suicide Squad” team-up movie, because DC Films is casting up and shooting “Birds of Prey,” which centers around Harley, in the new year.

READ MORE: ‘Birds Of Prey’: Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Gugu Mbatha-Raw & More In The Mix

So “The Joker,” shooting now for a 2019 release date, lives outside of the current DCEU. And the “Birds of Prey” movie, starring the Joker’s girlfriend Harley Quinn, lives within the current DCEU, and will shoot soon for a 2020 release.

READ MORE: ‘Joker’ Director Shares First Look At Joaquin Phoenix In Full Makeup

But there’s more. While a “Suicide Squad 2” movie is in the works as well as a solo Jared Leto-led Joker movie, there’s also a “Joker and Harley Quinn” movie in development.

Written by Glenn Ficarra and John Requa, the writer/directors behind “Crazy Stupid Love,” “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot” and “Focus” starring Margo Robbie, the filmmakers recently offered an update on the shape and status of the untitled Joker/Harley Quinn movie. And in doing so, described it as a mix of the foul-mouthed black comedy “Bad Santa” and NBC’s uplifting family drama “This Is Us.”

“It is great,” Ficarra explained about his own writing to Metro. “The whole thing starts with Harley kidnapping Dr. Phil. Played by Dr. Phil hopefully. Because [she] and the Joker are having problems with their relationship.”

Is that first part a joke? No one seems to know. “We had so much fun,” he said. “I don’t know if we have had more fun writing a script in our career.”

Ficarra went on to explain the aforementioned mash-up idea and how the idea formed. “It was sort of like, we wrote ‘Bad Santa’ a couple of years ago, and it was that sensibility mixed with our ‘This Is Us’ sensibility. We kind of meshed them together.

“We were doing a relationship movie but with the sensibility of a ‘Bad Santa,’ f***ed up, mentally deranged people. It was a lot of fun.”

Ficarra and Requa directed the pilot and six other episodes of “This Is Us,” hence their taking influence from the show, but while their script sounds done, it doesn’t sound like they have any clue when the movie will go forward. “I don’t know where it is on the queue of DC movies,” Requa insisted. “We handed the script in and everybody loved it,” added Ficarra. “But I don’t know when they are going to do it.”

That’s pretty much the answer that any DCEU writer will give you at this point. Tons of scripts are written and already delivered — even the writer of “Suicide Squad 2” recently said his draft was done. But 1) the DCEU has a surplus of new scripts to deal (they’re literally developing everything) with and 2) haven’t really figured out the direction of the universe(s) aside from the suggestion that one track will continue with the current DCEU—“Wonder Woman 1984,” “Aquaman,” etc.—and another with dark and gritty versions of DC character movies like Phillips’ “The Joker.” And beyond that? Well, WB is probably waiting to see how all these upcoming films perform at the box office before they announce much beyond that. Wait and see.