‘Harley Quinn’ Creator Says DC Refused Batman-Catwoman Sex Because ‘Heroes Don’t Do That’

Zack Sharf
·2 min read
3

DC Entertainment’s animated “Harley Quinn” series has emerged as a critical and fan sensation over its first two seasons, and popularity around the series should only continue to surge as the upcoming third season heads to HBO Max. The show embraces violence and sexuality in a way the majority of comic book films and television series do not. And yet, there is a line DC is not willing to cross. In a new interview with Variety (via Uproxx), “Harley Quinn” co-creator Justin Halpern reveals DC rejected a scene depicting oral sex between Batman and Catwoman for the show’s third season.

“It’s incredibly gratifying and free to be using characters that are considered villains because you just have so much more leeway,” Halpern said. “A perfect example of that is in this third season of ‘Harley’ [when] we had a moment where Batman was going down on Catwoman. 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.’”

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Variety issued the following disclaimer on the matter: “In fairness to DC, both Halpern and [co-creator Patrick] Schumacker went on to say that the company has been remarkably supportive of their series and has allowed them to push the envelope numerous times. Still, it remains to be seen if Batman and Catwoman will be shown engaging in some bedroom antics in Season 3 or if it will simply be implied via cunning linguistics.”

“Harley Quinn” aired its first two seasons on the DC Universe platform but is getting a huge sign of confidence from WarnerMedia as its third season heads to HBO Max. The show features the voice of “The Big Bang Theory” and “The Flight Attendant” star Kaley Cuoco as Harley Quinn, plus Lake Bell as Poison Ivy and Alan Tudyk as Joker and other DC villains such as Clayface and Calendar Man.

Both season of “Harley Quinn” are now streaming on HBO Max. The third season does not have an official release date yet.

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