Kaley Cuoco is the new Harley Quinn, in animated form anyway, and she’ll be leading a new series on the DC Universe streaming service with a bold 4th-wall-breaking attitude so popularized by the Deadpool movies. And it might even be better.
At the Wednesday night premiere of Titans, Cuoco made a surprise appearance to announce the Harley Quinn show to fans attending the New York Comic Con event. DC also screened a teaser video with Cuoco’s Harley Quinn, and the comedic tone seems virtually identical to that of Deadpool.
In the first look teaser, Harley Quinn shares a jail cell with Poison Ivy at Arkham Asylum. Immediately, she knocks on the camera and says, “What’s up New York!?” So immediately, we know Harley Quinn will smash through the fourth wall with a huge hammer. “It’s got comedy, action, incredibly gratuitous violence, and unlike that Deadpool cartoon, it’s actually coming out,” Harley Quinn says in the video, of course referring to Donald Glover’s failed project for FX. Lake Bell’s Poison Ivy also dryly assumes that DC fans will hate it, because they hate everything. She also wonders, like everybody, if this will just be another dark and gritty “DC thing.”
Even Batman gets a cameo to say, “There’s no fun in Arkham, Quinn.”
Poison Ivy (Lake Bell) and Harley Quinn (Kaley Cuoco) in 'Harley Quinn'
Entertainment Weekly reports that Harley Quinn begins with Harley dumping the Joker after he screws her over one last time. “She just doesn’t want to be Joker’s girlfriend anymore,” Cuoco said. “She wants to lead the pack, which I find very appropriate for this kind of day and age and vibe that we’re in.”
So consider Harley Quinn the crass, violent, R-rated female-led alternative to Deadpool. She even wears red and black, just like the Merc with a Mouth.
Cuoco leads the cast, but other actors include Lake Bell, Alan Tudyk, Ron Funches, JB Smoove, Jason Alexander, Wanda Sykes, Giancarlo Esposito, Natalie Morales, Jim Rash, Diedrich Bader, Tony Hale, and Chris Meloni.
Harley Quinn is scheduled for release sometime in October 2019.
