Weird Real-Life Origin Stories Of Your Favorite Superheroes

Hey, you remember how, back in the campy ol' Adam West/Burt Ward Batman show, the villains always had elaborately costumed goons — i.e., a bunch of grown men wearing bowler hats and black sweaters that literally spell out "HENCHMAN"  — accompanied by a top henchwoman, right? So did Batman: The Animated Series writer Paul Dini, according to The Hollywood Reporter, who originally concocted Harley Quinn as a one-off reference to this trope. She was never intended to be a recurring character, much less the superstar now played by Margot Robbie in films like Birds of Prey.

The twist? When Dini and co-creator Bruce Timm were coming up with Harley, they based her look, style, and wisecracking personality on Dini's old college buddy, Days of Our Lives actress Arleen Sorkin. It seemed only fitting, then, to hire Sorkin to voice the new character, and sure enough, the actress brought Harley Quinn to life. As Timm says today, "When we got the rough footage for that first episode back and we saw her character actually moving in animation and paired up with Arleen's voice and the personality they gave her, it was, "Oh wow. There's something here." It was immediately apparent to everybody."

Obviously, given Harley's 21st-century explosion in fame, this proved a good decision.

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