Warning: This article contains spoilers forHarley Quinnseason 3.
Harley Quinn and her eponymous animated series have come a long way in three years.
That meant tangling with Batman (Diedrich Bader) and assembling her own crew of colorful characters.
Batman (Diedrich Bader) and Harley (Kaley Cuoco) in a dream sequence from ‘Harley Quinn’ season 3.Courtesy of HBO Max
Once she did embrace those feelings, season 3 saw Harley and Ivy building a healthy relationship together.
I don’t know if I’m bad.'
But it felt way too early for that."
Bruce Wayne (Diedrich Bader) mopes after his breakup despite help from Batgirl (Briana Cuoco) and Nightwing (Harvey Guillen) in ‘Harley Quinn’ season 3.HBO Max
We pitched the show as ‘The Mary Tyler Moore Showif Mary Tyler Moore was a killer.’
It felt right to start her as a villain.
So here we are."
Harley (Kaley Cuoco) and girlfriend Poison Ivy (Lake Bell) in ‘Harley Quinn’ season 3.Courtesy of HBO Max
Almost every Batman villain has some abstract goal that’s relatable at its core but horrifying in practice.
But the biggest surprise ofHarley Quinnseason 3 was that Batman himself went down this same path.
Batman, in other words, became a Batman villain.
Poison Ivy (Lake Bell) embraces her villainy in ‘Harley Quinn’ season 3.HBO Max
“It was scary.
It hadn’t been done before,” Schumacker says of Batman’s heel turn.
I think it paid off.
A lot of people have embraced it in a really positive way."
Batman’s descent into villainy was precipitated by the dissolution of his relationship with Catwoman (Sanaa Lathan).
Harley did not share that problem.
“We see her repeating those patterns and glomming onto Ivy’s thing as she would with the Joker.
She’ll be able to have a more individualized journey.”
(As executive producers on theEmmy-winningAbbott Elementary, Schumacher and Halpern are quite busy these days.)
Obviously Peters is a major architect of the Harley-Ivy romance, and she still supports it.
“I think we all want them to be together forever,” Peters says.
“Now it’s just a matter of, how is that going to affect them moving forward?
All three seasons ofHarley Quinnare streaming now on HBO Max.
Join us in eagerly awaiting the fourth andhopefully more after that.
