As of now it sounds as though the Harley Quinn animated series will be finding a new home on the SYFY network as of this coming May, which means any DC fans that didn’t have the necessary subscription to the DC Universe will at last get a chance to see if all the hype that’s been given to the show is worth it or if a good number of hardcore fans and critics are once again blowing smoke up a certain area and are to be disregarded. Being fair, Harley Quinn is an interesting and kind of fun character that offers up a lot of new chances at story lines and misadventures that could possibly engage a good number of fans and keep people entertained for a long time to come, especially since during her time with the Joker she was often more of an emotional punching bag, and sometimes a literal one. Kevin Burwick of TVWeb had more to say on this matter. On her own though Harley still tends to require a litany of other personalities around her to make sure that her antics and her warped sense of humor are fully appreciated and are allowed to come through to the greatest extent, hence her friendship with Poison Ivy and her affiliation with the Birds of Prey in the movies. In a way this movie was acknowledging, or having Harley acknowledge, that on her own she’s tough and definitely capable up to a point, but as a solo act even she knows that she can’t last long against a more dedicated criminal with a host of thugs at their command.
It’s unknown right now if season 2, which just wrapped recently, is going to come to SYFY or if it’ll just be season one, but depending on what kind of success the show has on SYFY it could be moving to HBO Max or it could be staying put. In the meantime there’s been a lot of talk about Harley in recent years, especially leading up to and following her role in Birds of Prey starring Margot Robbie. The whole idea of leaving the Joker behind isn’t such a bad premise really since for a while it became the same old thing every time the duo showed up, Harley was head over heels in love with a villain that treated her like dirt but was ultimately possessive of her and didn’t want anyone else to have her. Dorian Black of Screenrant has another take on the matter. It was a toxicity on a level that doesn’t come with an easy label to slap over it since the Joker would gladly kill anyone that looked at or talked about Harley wrong, and then turn around and slap her down on his own when she appeared to have even the notion of self-importance. In other words she was basically his psychotic, acrobatic pet that did whatever he asked, took the abuse, and kept coming back for more.
This new Harley though is a definite badass despite still being something of a basket case and not all there in the head. It’s true that Harley is tough, she can hold her own in a fight against a lot of beings, but the hype she’s been given in recent years still tends to feel as though it’s a bit much. Her crazed attitude, her acrobatic and fighting skills, and her fierce independent streak are definitely more than a match for anyone that’s not super-powered or beyond her skill set, but as her story continues to build Harley has gained traction with a lot of critics and fans that were still somehow shocked when Birds of Prey turned so incredibly violent. Seriously? It’s a movie about villains that do bad things and people somehow expected it to be the POW!, BAM!, WHAP! days of Batman lore apparently, when no one had to wince when the bad guys got hurt because it was supposed to happen. Anne Thompson of IndieWire has her own opinion on the topic. How are people going to react if the animated series decides to get a little more violent? Are they going to sign a petition or stand there with jaws agape, wondering what their favorite little ponytail-wearing, psychotic acrobat/villain is doing now? It might be time for a reality check when it comes to Harley Quinn, since the character was made out to be a villain that could stand toe to toe with the Joker, or close enough, when it came to the level of madness she represented.
What this means is that human life doesn’t matter much to her if she has a goal in mind and finds someone standing in her way. At the moment the animated series can only go so far, but the live action movies are obviously pushing the envelope and for one reason or another people were shocked. In a show where the villain is the main character it’s kind of par for the course to expect violence.
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