‘Birds Of Prey’ costumes needed “more punk rock,” Deadpool creator says
Birds Of Prey is doing well critically and with audiences but has had a weak opening since hitting theaters a couple of weeks ago. The Harley Quinn-centered film has only earned about $65 million since opening. Everyone thinks they have a reason for why it’s performing poorly.
Deadpool co-creator and artist Rob Liefield gave his take on why the badass flick is underperforming. He blames it on costume design.
Read More: Talinda Bennington and Kevin Lyman announce 320 mental health summit
Liefield was incredibly popular in the 1990s, best known for creating Marvel‘s Deadpool, Cable, X-Force and Domino. However, he has since drawn the ire of not just Birds of Prey fans, but genre fans as a whole and more for some recent comments he made.
Liefield believes that Birds of Prey’s lack of box office success is due to the costumes that Margot Robbie‘s Harley Quinn wears in the film.
In since-deleted tweets, Liefield gave his thoughts.
“Next time, more punk rock, less happy meal” and “The Ronald McDonald look on Harley, not so much. Stick with the winning punk rock formula. Visual design and costuming matter.” The pictures in the deleted tweets were comparing the overalls Quinn is sporting throughout the film to what the McDonalds mascot Ronald McDonald wears.
Read More: Halsey drops BMTH-produced “Experiment On Me” from ‘Birds Of Prey
He then tweeted “Anyways, Suicide Squad costume designer Kate Hawley drew inspiration from Blondie’s Deborah Harry for Harley Quinn. Punk Rock suits her.”
“The Deborah Harry inspired Harley is amazing. This is a great look for the character and for Margot.” The Deborah Harry look Liefield is referencing is her look for Suicide Squad that Robbie has spoken at length about made her feel uncomfortable. For reference, Debbie Harry is the iconic punk queen from the band Blondie.
Fans of the genre quickly tried to explain the reasoning behind the costume choices, such as wanting to change your look after a breakup. Others noted that Liefield, who is known for drawing rather exaggerated women with scandalous costumes was just ignorant. Check out some replies to the original tweets below.
Read More: ‘Birds Of Prey’ has a subtle nod to another ‘Suicide Squad’ member
Women go through different fashion choices during breakup ups, Harley changing her clothes is not a difficult concept to comprehend. She wanted a new look. Happens all the fucking time.
— Jpë (@JulepJones) February 18, 2020
Drew inspiration = Straight up copied Harry’s look. You don’t care about punk, you just want to ogle Robbie’s body.
— dolores quintana (@doloresquintana) February 18, 2020
Rob have you ever read a comic Harley changes outfits all the time. Changing your look drastically after a big/rough break up is also pretty standard. I love both costumes and find your criticisms in particular a bit hilarious given your issues around character design.
— ??ProblematicPeach ?? (@PeachWhisk3y) February 18, 2020
Rob, you can like Harley’s look in both Suicide Squad and Birds of Prey. Just because she isn’t showing as much skin doesn’t mean she isn’t exuding punk energy. #HarleyQuinn https://t.co/JN0eQy8xZF
— Tia Fabi (@TC_Stark) February 18, 2020
sir you have absolutely no right to say anything about good female character costume designs pic.twitter.com/PPQKOM2jyS
— ? (@beforemoonlight) February 18, 2020
Read More: Fall Out Boy fans should listen to these records made by heroes & stans
Others state that they believe the costume design was an issue and that Quinn should stay a certain way.
The fact that #BirdsOfPrey bombed and neither women nor men went to see it supports the idea that this was the wrong story and the wrong fashion choice for Harley Quinn.
— Kamran Pasha (@kamranpasha) February 18, 2020
Well, it’s a part of the character soooo? I don’t understand why I’m supposed to be ashamed for wanting a toxic sexy Harley (the way she was designed).
— Mike Willis (@yngmike) February 18, 2020
Just like the ladies with Jason Momoa in Aquaman? Almost 50% of the 1b boxoffice was female. I guess this had nothing to do with it ⬇️⬇️⬇️ pic.twitter.com/hZ95eUKAba
— ??Oranges?Chocolate? (@Grumjum) February 18, 2020
As stated, Liefield has since deleted his original tweets but posted something to show he’s supported Harley since the beginning.
Here’s my support for Harley Quinn back in the day. The character has made a huge mark on the culture. DC Comics is publishing the character one way and I believe the film would have been better off portraying the comics more faithfully. Cant shout down my opinion. Thx! pic.twitter.com/fqfEhf5N0X
— robliefeld (@robertliefeld) February 18, 2020
Read More: ‘Birds Of Prey’ gets title update following opening weekend
Regardless, Liefield’s comments set Twitter ablaze, especially after Liefield then tried to gatekeep the comic community by alleging that those criticizing him were not real fans.
According to Rob Liefield, people who liked #BirdsOfPrey and liked the costume design… don’t represent the comic community like he does, and aren’t real fans???
Might wanna stop complaining about Harley looking like Ronald McDonald cus you’re worrying about the wrong clown?? pic.twitter.com/igFQLPUIgI
— CBM CRINGE (@CBMCringe) February 18, 2020
Anyway, Birds Of Prey is still in theaters and if you’re so inclined, go give it a watch! As we said, people seem to be loving it!
See more: The 10 most metal cartoon characters
[envira-gallery id=”194728″]