Posted in: Opinion, TV, TV | Tagged: dceu, harley quinn, hbo max, james gunn, kaley cuoco, margot robbie, The Suicide Squad

James Gunn on Harley Quinn Return to DCEU: "Yes" (But How & Where?)

The worlds of filmmaker James Gunn and the DC character Harley Quinn have lives that are very much entwined. Gunn wrote & directed 2021's The Suicide Squad, which featured Margot Robbie reprising her turn as Harley (from 2016's Suicide Squad) and apparently having a great time doing it. From there, Gunn found himself in the animated world of Patrick Schumacker & Justin Halpern's Kaley Cuoco & Lake Bell-starring Harley Quinn during its third season, playing himself as he brings the story of Bruce Wayne's father, Thomas Wayne, to the big screen. So it wasn't a surprise when Gunn took to Twitter to honor the 30th anniversary of Harley Quinn's 1992 debut on Batman: The Animated Series, a character he thanked Bruce Timm and Paul Dini for creating because Gunn finds Harley "an absolute joy to write, direct & create stories for." And that's where it got our dumpster fires of random speculation raging…

Here's a look at Gunn's initial tweet celebrating the occasion of Harley's debut:

From there, Gunn was asked if Harley Quinn would be making a return to the DCEU, to which Gunn replied a definitive…

Okay, so that was a pretty definitive affirmative on Gunn's part, one that seems to come from someone in the know as Gunn is… but where will she return? Some might automatically jump to The Suicide Squad 2 or a Harley Quinn spinoff film, but we're greedy, selfish television/streaming people. We would really like to see a Harley Quinn limited series (with a regular series option)… or how about the second season of HBO Max's Peacemaker? Having more back-and-forths with John Cena would be classic, and it gets even better when you consider the exchanges Robbie's Harley would have with the rest of the team.

While nothing official had been announced at the time, Schumacker & Halpern shared their thoughts on a fourth season with Variety recently, including the sitcom they would most compare their vision of Harley Quinn to. But that wasn't all, as the duo also had some additional intel to share on animated spinoff Noonan's. The 10-episode series spotlights Kite Man as he buys Noonan's Bar, an infamous hangout spot for some of the seedier elements in and around Gotham. Matt Oberg is reprising his role of Kite Man, with Schumacker, Halpern, Cuoco & showrunner Dean Laurie, and Sam Register executive producing.

"Noonan's": With a series that finds Kite Man looking to make a go of the bar with his new girlfriend Golden Glider (Cathy Ang), Halpern & Schumacker are looking for a twist on the classic NBC sitcom Cheers, except the "everybody" who knows your name is made up of DCU's "loser, D-list villains. "When we had pitched 'Harley,' we were like, it's 'The Mary Tyler Moore Show,' but a psycho killer instead of Mary Tyler Moore. So when they came to us, and they're like, 'Have you guys ever thought of a spinoff?' The first thing we thought is what other types of sitcoms can fit into Harley's universe," Halper revealed. And if there's going to be a "Cheers" vibe, then you need a "Cliff Clavin"- and that's where fan-favorite and spinoff series regular Bane (James Adomian) comes into play. "He's very easy and fun to write for, and whenever we pitch jokes for him, everyone does it in the Bane voice. We're not going to stop doing that," said writer Conner Shin.

"Harley Quinn" Season 4 & Beyond: While Schumaker, Halpern & Cuoco remain committed to the series as long as Warner Bros Discovery & HBO Max remain committed, the series co-creators would like to see future seasons run by other writers as the number of DCU characters introduced grows. "I would do the show as long as HBO Max and Warner Bros. want to make the show. The show's called 'Harley Quinn,' but there's thousands of characters that exist in the DC Universe that we really can just keep going. We want to be 'The Simpsons' of the DCU," Schumaker explained.

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