'Harley Quinn': The animated series could pave the way for more villain-centric shows from DC's vast universe of baddies
Its often said that in superhero stories, it's the villain who makes the hero. Batman, for example, is a fascinating character in his own right, but what makes Batman stories especially compelling is the fact that he has one of the most interesting rogues' galleries in all of comics.
One of them will be getting her own animated series this November with 'Harley Quinn'. The show will highlight her attempts to join the Legion of Doom and seems to heavily feature far more of DC's villains than heroes.
Perhaps it is time to ask if TV is ready for a villain-centric show. If it is, then 'Harley Quinn' is the perfect stepping stone for more stories along that line.
The commercial success of movies like 'Joker, directed by Todd Philips and starring Joaquin Pheonix as the titular character, show that stories centered around villains are certainly in high demand.
What's notable about 'Joker' is that it featured no superheroes in it at all. Sure, Bruce Wayne makes an appearance, but as a child at least a decade away from donning the cowl.
For all intents and purposes, 'Joker' is a standalone supervillain movie. While opinions may be split on how good a movie it is, the revenue it generates is a lot less ambiguous: a supervillain movie can work.
There have been anti-hero shows before, most notably Netflix's 'The Punisher', and plenty of shows about villainous characters themselves, but a comic book supervillain is yet to helm their own TV series.
Harley Quinn is more of an antihero herself, but from what we know of the show so far, it looks like she will be opening the door to a whole host of stories that look at the DC Universe from a villain's perspective, and there's no better place to start than Gotham.
'Harley Quinn' is set to feature classic Batman characters such as Poison Ivy, Clayface (and, amusingly enough, Clayface's Hand as a separate character and voice actor), Catwoman, and the Riddler.
There are compelling stories to be told with each of these characters(well, perhaps not Clayface’s Hand) — not to mention a new, fresh take on what their lives are like when they don't have Batman breathing down their necks.
Moving past Gotham and onto a more global scale, the show is also set to feature the Legion of Doom, which will include members like Lex Luthor and Doctor Psycho.
The Legion of Doom’s dynamic is one that generally depicts what happens when you put a group of powerful, arrogant and vain characters in a room together. It's a dynamic that, honestly, deserves its own spinoff.
DC has already dabbled in full supervillain stories with their 'Suicide Squad' adaptations — the first being 'Assault on Arkham' in 2014, and then 'Suicide Squad: Hell to Pay' in 2018.
Both movies were deeply enjoyed, and that's no surprise — DC has a leg up on Marvel when it comes to entertaining villains.
Assuming that the 'Harley Quinn' animated series does well, we can expect to see more supervillain animated series rise in the show's wake.
After that, it's only a matter of time before the live-action fad of featuring grimdark superheroes is taken to its logical conclusion, and we get a live-action show of pure villainy.
'Harley Quinn' will arrive on the DC Universe streaming service on Friday, November 29.