Posted in: Max, streaming, TV | Tagged: harley quinn, kite-man, max, preview

Harley Quinn & Poison Ivy's Summer Plans; Kite Man Gets a Name Change

Kite Man's spinoff series gets a name-change from "Noonan's," and Harley Quinn & Poison Ivy have confirmed Season 4 Summer plans.

Some big news coming out of this year's Annecy International Animation Film Festival, courtesy of Suzanna Makkos, Executive Vice President, Original Comedy and Adult Animation, Max and Adult Swim. First up, as we reported earlier, EPs Patrick Schumacker & Justin Halpern and Showrunner Sarah Peters' Kaley Cuoco & Lake Bell-starring Harley Quinn is set to unleash its fourth season this summer. In addition, we also learned Dean Lorey & Katie Rich's Matt Oberg-starring Kite Man spinoff series "Noonan's" now has a new title – one that's more respectful of our main man: Kite Man: Hell Yeah!

Harley Quinn, Kite Man & More Updates!

With series writer Sarah Peters taking over as showrunner with the upcoming fourth season, EPs Patrick Schumacker & Justin Halpern teased back in February that viewers can expect a deeper dive into who Poison Ivy is as an individual. In addition, we got a brief update on the Kite Man (Matt Oberg)-focused animated spinoff series Noonan's.

"Sarah writes Ivy like no one else, and Season 4 will explore Ivy more than we have," Schumacker shared during a recent interview with Variety. "There's her new role with the Legion of Doom. There's something Justin and I would not have immediately gone toward — I'm trying not to spoil anything — but she did an amazing job. Obviously, the show has benefited greatly from so many different female perspectives amongst the writers, and Sarah has always been very key. She's written some of the most memorable, enduring episodes. She's the one who brought Catwoman into the fold; she's the one who wrote the Season 2 finale where Harley and Ivy go driving off from Ivy's intended wedding [with Kite Man], the bachelorette episode on Themyscira, our Season 3 premiere. Her grasp of Ivy and her ideas are things we certainly would never think of, and I'm really excited for people to get to see that."

As for Lorey & Rich's Kite Man spinoff, viewers can expect vibes similar to the "Valentine'sDay," according to Halpern. "'The Kite-Man' series is gonna hit some of the same vibes that the special does. It gets out there. It goes for it. They've done such a good job of making Kite Man and Golden Gliders lovable doofuses. Pat and I pitched 'Harley' as "It's 'Mary Tyler Moore' with a psycho killer at the front. But we've always talked about the 'The Kite Man' show as 'Cheers.' 'Cheers,' but for B-list supervillains."

At SXSW back in 2022, Schumacker announced that development was underway on an animated spinoff then-titled Noonan's. While it was still early in its development stage, the proposed series would spotlight Kite Man as he buys Noonan's Bar, an infamous hangout spot for some of the seedier elements in and around Gotham. "He tries to run the bar by himself, but it doesn't turn out so easy," Schumacker explained. "We have Harley and Ivy appear in the first episode, but after that, we have with different goons and villains appearing in every episode, like Lex Luthor and Bane. It will be kind of like 'Cheers' for supervillains." Well, then-HBO Max liked what they heard because the streamer gave it a 10-episode series order in April 2022, with Oberg reprising his role of Kite Man. Harley Quinn (set to return this summer for its third season) co-creators Schumacker, Halpern & Lorey, as well as original series star Cuoco (via Yes, Norman Productions), will executive produce, along with Sam Register.

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