The Suicide Squad: Harley Quinn is back, but where’s Cassandra Cain?

Ready yourselves for an explosive blood bath, The Suicide Squad, with Harley Quinn back on the team? And where the heck is Cassandra Cain?

It’s been way too long since we last saw Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn in the DCEU. Okay, so it hasn’t technically been that long since Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) but we’re eager for her to return because of the fact that we love that movie. And so does Rotten Tomatoes – who awarded Harley and BoP the Golden Tomato. Maybe she can add it to The Perfect Egg Sandwich… Nah.

Unfortunately, the newly emancipated Harley will be enjoying her egg sandwich with an explosive chip in her brain. That’s right, Harley and her wacky antics are back in James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad. However, her role in that movie has us wondering: How exactly did she end up back in Belle Reeve? And what the heck happened to Cassandra Cain?

For those of us who watched BoP, we saw Harley riding off into the sunset with her new friend Cassandra Cain. She had aspirations of becoming an assassin for hire, she had a business card and everything, “Harley Quinn & Associates” you know the rest. Cassandra’s sly ways under Harley’s tutelage meant great things for the unorthodox duo.

Somewhere between the end of BoP and the start of The Suicide Squad, however, it seems that Harley got herself into some bother, catching the attention of Amanda Waller once again. It’s apparent the founder of Task Force X never let Harley out of her sights.

The trailer shows the team being led by Idris Elba’s Bloodsport under the guidance of Rick Flagg as they attempt to rescue Harley. Of course, the Clown Princess of Crime doesn’t need rescuing. It appears business is booming for the emancipated princess as this could have been a contract job.

In the pages of DC Comics, Harley is one of the group’s leaders and, based on the trailer (plus James Gunn’s comments) it appears we’ll definitely be getting the Harley we missed in the original film. The question is, however, what happened to Cassandra?

Where is Cassandra Cain in The Suicide Squad?

Harley wasn’t exactly cut out to be a parent, though Bruce (her hyena) will disagree. Nevertheless, here we are with Harley and no Cassandra in The Suicide Squad and there might be a reasonable explanation for this. The clues lie within Birds of Prey and DC Comics despite the deviations Cathy Yan and Christina Hodson’s version of the character took.

In the comics, Cassandra is the daughter of David Cain and Lady Shiva – two assassins with ties to League of Assassins. Yan and Hodson’s original version in Birds of Prey allowed more creative freedom and that can be used to explain why she and Harley aren’t together – especially if it now ties directly back to her comic book origins.

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Based on what we saw from Birds of Prey, we don’t know who Cassandra’s real parents are. So, it’s safe to say her comic book origins could still remain intact if the writers wanted it to. If that’s the case, The League may have come to collect what they were promised. After all, Ra’s al Ghul demanded David and Lady Shiva conceive a child that would become his sworn bodyguard.

What if, in the DCEU, Shiva decided against her promise. Instead, she could have put her child up for adoption, hoping she’d live a normal life – eventually resulting in the events of Birds of Prey. Of course, that would then mean that Shiva’s worst nightmare could come to fruition if Cassandra’s life was uprooted and changed post-Birds of Prey.

Could her father come for her and put her through rigorous training to ultimately turn her into a killer. This could lead to the DCEU Cassandra evolving into the kid we know from the comics – the deranged and distraught child that Barbara Gordon finds. We could see a story about a lost girl reclaiming her humanity under the guidance of a woman who knows what it’s like to redefine herself?

Maybe this is one fan giving the DCEU and Warner Bros too much credit or thought. Still, it would be nice if there was a reason that Cassandra and Harley are no longer working together – especially if it has something to do with her comic book origins. But we’ll have to wait until the release of The Suicide Squad on Aug. 6, 2021, to find out what happened to Harley. As for Cassandra, well, we may be waiting a little longer.

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Would you like to see the DCEU explain why Harley and Cassandra aren’t working together in The Suicide Squad? Let us know in the comments below!