The following contains spoilers for Harley Quinn season 3.Harley Quinn's most recent season ended with some major changes to the characters, and the series showrunners have some thoughts on what to expect when the show returns. Heroes became villains, villains became heroes, and other villains became even more villainy. But what does that mean for season 4?
Justin Halpern and Patrick Schumacker have helmed the Harley Quinn series since its debut on the now-defunct DC Universe streaming service. But it turns out Harley Quinn season 4 will debut new showrunner Sarah Peters, who has served as a writer for the show during its entire run so far. So with this passing of the torch comes a new status quo for their version of Gotham City, and it's actually been in the works for a while.
The former and upcoming showrunners recently spoke with Entertainment Weekly about where they've taken Harley Quinn and where they hope to take the series from here, and it turns out season 3's biggest surprise had already happened in the comics. "In the comics at the time that we were developing the show, Jimmy Palmiotti and Amanda Conner were doing the run and Harley had gone off to Coney Island and had become a heroic vigilante," Schumacker explained. "So that was in the ether when we were thinking about the show and pitching it, but it was too delicious to have her as a villain to start with…It felt right to start her as a villain. But we knew we could recalibrate her moral compass towards the heroic North Star, it would just take some time. So here we are."
Season 3 saw Harley (Kaley Cuoco) go back to her roots as a therapist to help Batman (Diedrich Bader) deal with his destructive obsession with resurrecting his dead parents. The series somehow pulled this off while remaining hilariously on-brand for Harley Quinn. But in a shocking twist, this also inspired Harley herself to take a heroic turn and end the season by helping Batgirl (Briana Cuoco), Nightwing (Harvey Guillén), and the rest of the "Bat Family." Her girlfriend Poison Ivy (Lake Bell) was heartwarmingly supportive in this endeavor, despite her own villainous aspirations. So this also introduces some fascinating potential for the next season.
"I think we all want them to be together forever," Peters said of Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy's relationship. "Now it's just a matter of, how is that going to affect them moving forward? They are a power couple now, and we've got a dynamic where they might be on different sides of the aisle." Halpern and Schumacker had previously mentioned that they don't intend to ever break Harley and Ivy up while running the show, so here's hoping this means Peters wants the same thing.
However Peters might shake things up, it's clear she has a love for the characters and world they've all created that proves she's definitely cut out for her new position as showrunner. Harley Quinn has put out some of its most interesting and creative episodes yet this season, and if she's got more of that up her sleeve, then this show will easily continue to be one of the most iconic animated versions of Harley Quinn.
Harley Quinn seasons 1-3 are available to stream on HBO Max.
Source: Entertainment Weekly