Harley Quinn co-creators and executive producers Justin Halpern and Patrick Schumacker were recently tracked down by Variety to comment on superhero TV shows that subvert the genre.
Praising DC Entertainment for allowing them to push the boundaries in the DC series, Halpern confessed that "It’s incredibly gratifying and free to be using characters that are considered villains because you just have so much more leeway." However, when it comes to the company's superheroes, the duo soon learned that they aren't granted quite as much creative freedom.
That included an NSFW sex scene depicting Batman performing oral sex on Catwoman.
"A perfect example of that is in this third season of ‘Harley’ [when] we had a moment where Batman was going down on Catwoman," Halpern says of one idea that was quicky vetoed. "And DC was like, ‘You can’t do that. You absolutely cannot do that.’ They’re like, ‘Heroes don’t do that.’ So, we said, ‘Are you saying heroes are just selfish lovers?’ They were like, ‘No, it’s that we sell consumer toys for heroes. It’s hard to sell a toy if Batman is also going down on someone.’"
It's good to know that Batman isn't a selfish lover, but when Harley Quinn is aimed at adults, we're not sure too many kids would have their toy collections ruined by knowing that the Caped Crusader is a fan of heading south of the border. If nothing else, we now know what not to expect in Matt Reeves' The Batman next year.
Interestingly, "a source close to the series [tells TV Line] that the EPs are often incredulous about what they have been able to get away, plot-wise, in the first two seasons."
Harley Quinn was picked up for a season 3 last September. A return date has not been set yet.
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