Posted in: HBO, Preview, streaming, Trailer, TV | Tagged: harley quinn, hbo max, preview, season 3, trailer

Harley Quinn: Schumacker and Halpern Offer Up Serious Season 3 Intel

Yesterday, fans of HBO Max's Kaley Cuoco & Lake Bell-starring Harley Quinn got the heads up that on Thursday, series co-creators Patrick Schumacker and Justin Halpern would be taking over Harley's Instagram account to talk all things Season 3. Well, today's Thursday, and Schumacker & Justin Halpern kept their promise. So what did the duo have to share ahead of the 10-episode animated series' July 28th return? Here's a look at some of the highlights:

New Characters: Viewers can look forward to a special someone Kite-Man has found" as well as Harvey Guillen's Nightwing and Music Meister

James Gunn will be directing Billy Bob Thorton as Thomas Wayne in the biographical film A Hard Wayne's Gonna Fall, which Clayface is auditioning for. And while they did include some Marvel jokes (including one about Thanos), they didn't make the cut (but maybe as bonus content down the road?)

Episode S03E08 Alert: When asked what was the hardest episode to write, the duo agreed that the Batman-centered S03E08 would be the one. The focus of the episode will take viewers inside Bruce Wayne's mind (for "reasons"), and will "poke fun" at all the different takes on Batman across pop culture. Fans of Batman: The Animated Series "will be blown away" seeing the actual backgrounds from the beloved series being used as well as some of Danny Elfman's music.

Kite-Man Update: Bane (who will also have a storyline with Rachel Dratch's Nora Fries) will be a big part of the spinoff series and, "Your Kite-Man questions will be answered" (with the popular character appearing in the first three episodes).

Most Fun Episodes to Write: S03E08 Batman-focused episodes, and S03E04 Court of Owls/orgy episode

Joker Getting a "Stand-Alone-ish" Episode: The duo tease doing something with Joker that "hasn't been done before" and will include a lot of references to various Jokers across pop culture ("Wait 'Til You Get a Load of Us").

Oh, and if you like songs? Schumacker and Halpern do, too, so expect some more this season.

DC Characters They Would Like to See: Justin goes with Power Girl (referencing she was supposed to appear in Season 1 in an episode where Harley questions her "boob window" and just how impractical female superhero costumes are). Patrick would like to see Red Hood & Black Canary and would like to do a riff on Gotham City Sirens.

Fans looking forward to "spicy 'Harlivy' scenes" should pay attention to the very first scene of the season, with the duo expressing that they approached them from the viewpoint of them being in an "actual relationship."

Guillen's version of Nightwing will be "a very particular version" and have a "very particular tone."

Viewers can also expect to see Amanda Waller and some of the Suicide Squad early in the season, and that there will be more Bat-family members appearing this season ("a lot more Bat-Family") and that they will be playing a major role.

A 'Harlivy' Wedding? Patrick is in favor of Harley and Ivy getting married and having kids, but he believes that storyline-wise it will involve some conversations between the two that need to be had before moving forward. But both say that the pair won't be breaking up on the show.

New ket art & posters for Season 3 are arriving soon, and viewers will love Nightwing's butt.

And to help get fans in the mood for Harley & Poison Ivy's (Bell) return, the streaming series is hosting a #HarleyParty watch party this Friday, July 8, beginning at 5 pm PT/ 8 pm ET. To get involved, just head on over to Twitter during that time, follow the prompt on when to start, use the hashtag #HarleyParty, and you're good to go! And what's on the agenda? After the dust settled on a Twitter poll, we learned that S01E11 "Harley Quinn Highway" and S02E09 "Bachelorette" will be on the agenda for this Friday night.

Last week, we got the first official teaser covering a whole ton of ground and here's what you need to know. The mayhem and madness continue in season three of this biting and uproarious adult animated comedy series. Wrapping up their "Eat. Bang! Kill. Tour," Harley (Cuoco) and Ivy (Bell) return to Gotham as the new power couple of DC villainy. Along with their ragtag crew – King Shark (Ron Funches), Clayface (Alan Tudyk), and Frank the Plant (JB Smoove) – "Harlivy" strives to become the best version of themselves while also working towards Ivy's long-desired plan of transforming Gotham into an Eden paradise. Looking for a Batman/Catwoman oral sex joke? Looking to watch an animated James Gunn enjoy himself a little too much on a Clayface chair? How about the Court of Owls going all Eyes Wide shut? All of that is waiting for you when the series arrives on July 28th with the first three episodes- and a preview of it is waiting for you below:

Co-Executive Producer Jennifer Coyle offered some additional intel and more during a session at the Annecy Intl. Animation Film Festival earlier this month (first reported exclusively by Variety). Posting some first-look art from the season, Coyle shared that Season 3 picks up where the second season ended: Harley & Ivy are together, and it would appear the preview image above is from their unofficial honeymoon. But Coyle teased that their honeymoon will be anything but quiet. In another image, it was shown that Batman and Harley will be meeting back up. In addition, viewers can expect new characters, "twists and turns" and that the season will "take audiences to places and show things you don't see anywhere else." Following an image of what appeared to be an S&M bar with a man having his bare bottom spanked, Coyle commented, "Here, Commissioner Gordon finds himself in a very weird place."

At SXSW earlier this year, Schumacker announced that development was underway on an animated spinoff entitled Noonan's (working title). 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 every episode like Lex Luthor and Bane. It will be kind of like 'Cheers' for supervillains." Well, HBO Max liked what they heard because the streamer gave it a 10-episode series order in April, with Matt Oberg reprising his role of Kite Man. Harley Quinn (set to return this summer for its third season) co-creators Schumacker, Halpern & Dean Lorey, as well as original series star Cuoco (via Yes, Norman Productions), will executive produce, along with Sam Register. Lorey will serve as showrunner on the series, based on characters from DC and produced by Warner Bros. Animation.

Along with Cuoco & Bell, HBO Max's Harley Quinn also stars Alan Tudyk (Doom Patrol) as The Joker, Ron Funches (Powerless) as Nanaue / King Shark, JB Smoove (Curb Your Enthusiasm) as Frank the Plant, Jason Alexander (Seinfeld) as Sy Borgman, and Wanda Sykes (Black-ish) as Tsaritsa / Queen of Fables. Giancarlo Esposito (Breaking Bad) as Lex Luthor, Natalie Morales (Bojack Horseman), Jim Rash (Community) as Edward Nygma / Riddler, Rahul Kohli (iZombie) as Dr. Jonathan Crane / Scarecrow, Diedrich Bader (Veep) as Bruce Wayne / Batman, Tony Hale (Veep) as Dr. Edgar Cizko / Doctor Psycho, Christopher Meloni (Happy!) as Commissioner Jim Gordon, and Sanaa Lathan (Native Son) as Selina Kyle / Catwoman also star. This season, What We Do in the Shadows star Harvey Guillén joins the cast as the voice of Dick Grayson aka Nightwing.

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