Joker and Harley Quinn ‘love story’ spinoff will see them kidnap Dr. Phil

While Jared Leto’s Joker won’t be the star of the upcoming Joker origin story, there’s some good news for all those awaiting his potential Suicide Squad spinoff with Harley Quinn.

Screenwriters Glenn Ficarra and John Requa (Crazy Stupid Love) shared the latest updates for Harley Quinn and the Joker’s standalone love story in an interview with Metro, and the direction of the movie may come as a surprise to DC fans. The duo called the film a combination of two of their previous collaborations: dark comedy Bad Santa and hit TV drama This is Us.

“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,” Ficarra told Metro. “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.”

So what’s the plot of this sweeping dark-comedy drama you might ask?

“The whole thing starts with Harley kidnapping Dr Phil. Played by Dr Phil hopefully,” said Ficarra. “Because her and the Joker are having problems with their relationship.”

There is, however, no further production news on this vital piece of DC Extended Universe lore. Ficarra and Riqua said that while the studio loved their script, they want to focus their attention on Birds of Prey, which has a reported release date of Feb. 2020, and Todd Phillips’ upcoming Joker origin story, due next October.

“I don’t know where it is on the queue of DC movies,” Riqua said.

But never fear — the latest Ficarra and Requa collaboration Smallfoot hits theaters on Sept. 28. It’s already spawned a pretty catchy meme.