Margot Robbie says Harley Quinn's costume is ‘less male gaze-y’ in ‘Birds Of Prey’

Margot Robbie has opened up about the return of Harley Quinn in Birds Of Prey, revealing that the all female creative team behind the superhero film have ensured that her costume is “less male gaze-y.”

Birds Of Prey’s costume designer Erin Benach praised the input of director Cathy Yan, producers Robbie and Sue Kroll, and writer Christina Hodson, insisting that they all collaborated to change the look and style of the character, making sure the depiction was much more empowering than her more revealing outfit in Suicide Squad.

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“That’s what happens when you have a female producer, director, writer,” explained Benach, with Robbie adding, “Yeah, it’s definitely less male gaze–y.”

During the same interview with Vogue, Robbie also revealed that the spin-off will be an, “r-rated superhero action film,” insisting, “I think there’s a perception that a PG female-led action film is kind of considered a chick flick.”

There is a huge amount of anticipation surrounding Robbie’s return as Harley Quinn. The Australian actress has only portrayed the character in 2016’s critically maligned Suicide Squad, but it was widely agreed that Robbie was the best thing in it.

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Robbie took her time figuring out the next step for the character, which coincided with her decision to become a producer. That worked out rather well, as her first film as a producer I, Tonya was nominated for a Best Picture Oscar, while Robbie was nominated for Best Actress, and Allison Janney won the Best Supporting Actress gong.

We’ll see what Robbie, Yan, Kroll, and Hodson achieve with Birds Of Prey, which will also star Jurnee Smollett-Bell, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Rosie Perez Ella Jay Basco and Ewan McGregor, when it is finally released on February 7, 2020.