Hi, so i started reading the new batman run. And one thing i don't understand is why make the character of annika zeller. Because (i might be wrong) I'm on issue 7 and so far all i can think is: she's dr. Harleen Quinzel. Like, all of her scenes, it feels like harleen with a different name and background. Which doesn't make sense to me.
Why not just put harley there? Is it because ppl prefer her post-joker and don't care about when she was Dr. Harleen Quinzel?
I just can't wrap my head around it.
Hello there, I get you what you mean. Harley is literally right there so why not just use her instead? She has extensive knowledge of criminal psychology with the Gotham rogues and was a doctor before she went insane so why can't she just be used for this run?
After wondering that for a while, I realized that it's probably for the best for because of these reasons:
1) If anything, Annika Zeller is more like Meridian Chase, Bruce's old love interest in the Batman Forever movie. She's just a criminal psychologist and a potential love interest. Nothing more, nothing less. She doesn't have an alias like Harley nor does she have that twisted obsession and darkness she carries inside.
2) Modern Harley can't really work in this specific setting. To be honest, I don't think it's because people love new Harley or prefer her over the old one because a lot of people even now still prefer her old self. I think it's because modern Harley in this day and age is so radically different that it's impossible to implement her into this story without changing her character. More recent adaptations have really leaned into the Deadpool-esque manic pixie dream girl character so much that you'd think she's unable to be her old serious self anymore.
3) The timeline and continuity. Correct me if I'm wrong but this Batman run by Matt Fraction takes place a little after or during the old Batman run by Chip Zdarsky. It's still technically main continuity Batman so this means if Harley were to ever be in this story, it won't be as Dr. Harleen or Classic Jester Harley, it'd be Modern day Harley. If she were to ever be in Annika's position, she wouldn't even try to cure or restrain Joker. She'd just try and kill him again. Also, if you've read Harley's current run, she's preoccupied with her own little midlife crisis with the whole "Batquinn" and literal split personality thing because of her breakup with mayor Ivy
I think the only way for Harley to be in this Batman story that fulfills the same role as Zeller is if you took the 'saner side of her' in her current run and put her here but seeing as these arcs will inevitably lead up the 'Bad seeds' event, we'll probably get more of Batman and Harley interacting anyway. Although I do wonder if they'll meet when she's whole again or when she's still split into two
