Kaley Cuoco Returns as Harley Quinn in HBO Max's First Look at Season 3
Harley Quinn fans will have to wait a little longer to see Season 3 of the hit HBO Max series, but there was a brief tease during DC Comics' DC FanDome event on Saturday. HBO Max showed some early animatics for the new episodes, showing Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy plotting their Eat, Bang, Kill tour of Gotham City after the wedding at the end of Season 2. The series features former The Big Bang Theory star Kaley Cuoco, who serves as the voice of Harley and an executive producer. The first look offered no exact premiere date for Season 3 but promised it will be here in 2022.
At the beginning of the Harley Quinn segment of FanDome, Harley and King Shark introduced the rough sketches and animatics, which ends with a still image of Harley and Poison Ivy in formal dresses. "There are so many surprise twists and turns, and I say that as someone who lived it," King Shark said after they showed the clip. "I will admit that looks pretty great," Harley agreed. "Gonna be better y'know after the crayon guy colors it in and the sound effects guy does the 'pew pew' stuff, and, y'know, the music guy does the 'bah-nah-nah-nah thing with the guitars. Oh God, animation takes forever!" Kite Man also swung in to make the whole thing un-cool.
Harley Quinn launched in 2019 on the DC Universe streaming platform, with the second season debuting in April 2020. In September 2020, the show was picked up for a third season and moved to HBO Max. The show's main cast also features Lake Bell as Ivy, Tony Hale as Doctor Psycho, Ron Funches as King Shark, Jason Alexander as Sy Borgman, Matt Oberg as Kite Man, J.B. Smoove as Ivy's plant Frank, and Alan Tudyk as the Joker, Clayface, and many other characters.
There was plenty of other big news from DC FanDome for fans of DC's animated line-up. The first two episodes of Young Justice: Phantoms were surprisingly released on the platform. Fans also saw the first look at Batman: Caped Crusader, a new series from JJ Abrams, Matt Reeves, and Bruce Timm. This new show will use state-of-the-art animation techniques to tell new stories about Batman and his villains. The cast has not been announced yet. Reeves is the director of the new The Batman movie featuring Robert Pattison as Batman, while Timm is best known for his work on the original Batman: The Animated Series.
"We are beyond excited to be working together to bring this character back, to tell engrossing new stories in Gotham City," Timm, Abrams, and Reeves said in a statement about Caped Crusader. "The series will be thrilling, cinematic, and evocative of Batman's noir roots while diving deeper into the psychology of these iconic characters. We cannot wait to share this new world."