Warning: There are spoilers ahead for the third season finale of Harley Quinn! Harley Quinn Showrunners.
For most of Harley Quinn‘s three season run, the title character has tried to prove herself as a villain only to realize that she simply isn’t as evil as she pretended to be. That’s not to say that Harley didn’t commit a lot of crimes, and she did murder Penguin and Mad Hatter. However, after the events of the third season finale, Harley has been embraced as a hero by Gotham City. That’s because she saved Gotham from her girlfriend, Poison Ivy, while saving Ivy from herself. Now, even the Batman family has welcomed Harley into the fold while Bruce Wayne is imprisoned for tax evasion.
In a new interview with EW, outgoing showrunners Justin Halpern and Patrick Schumacker, as well as the new showrunner, Sarah Peters, shared their thoughts on Harley’s heroic turn. Schumacker noted that Harley’s comic book counterpart has already gone in this direction. However, they wanted to play with Harley as a villain before following that example.
“In the comics at the time that we were developing the show, Jimmy Palmiotti and Amanda Conner were doing the run and Harley had gone off to Coney Island and had become a heroic vigilante,” said Schumacker. “So that was in the ether when we were thinking about the show and pitching it, but it was too delicious to have her as a villain to start with…It felt right to start her as a villain. But we knew we could recalibrate her moral compass towards the heroic North Star, it would just take some time. So here we are.”
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“As we get to the end of season 3 and into the future, [Harley is] going to have this confidence and this support at home that she’s never had before,” added Peters. “Hopefully she can parlay that confidence into figuring out where she fits in this world that is very binary when it comes to good and evil. She’ll be able to have a more individualized journey.”
There is also more potential conflict between Harley and Ivy, especially since Lex Luthor has recruited Ivy to run a new Legion of Doom. Harley and Ivy supported each others’ career decisions, but they may find themselves on opposite sides next season. Regardless, Peters reiterated that there are no plans to break up the couple at the heart of the show.
“”I think we all want them to be together forever,” noted Peters. “Now it’s just a matter of, how is that going to affect them moving forward? They are a power couple now, and we’ve got a dynamic where they might be on different sides of the aisle.”
Harley Quinn season 3 is now streaming on HBO Max. The fourth season may be a year to two years away.
What do you think about Harley’s new status quo? Let us know in the comment section below!
Recommended Reading: Harley Quinn The Rebirth: Deluxe Collection Vol. 1
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