‘Harley Quinn’ Renewed for Season 4 at HBO Max With New Showrunner

Rick Porter
·3 min read

Harley Quinn is sticking around at HBO Max, with a new person in charge.

HBO Max has renewed the (very) adult animated DC series for a fourth season, a few weeks ahead of the Sept. 15 finale for season three. The series will also have a new showrunner in season four: Sarah Peters, who has written for Harley Quinn throughout its run and is currently a consulting producer, will serve as executive producer and showrunner, taking over for Justin Halpern and Patrick Schumacker.

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“Patrick Schumacker, Justin Halpern and their incredible team of artists and writers have created something so explosively funny and original, and we are thrilled to continue this journey with them and the show’s legion of fans,” said Billy Wee, senior vp comedy and animation at HBO Max. “It has been amazing to watch the show grow and evolve this season and we could not ask for a more talented and dedicated team of collaborators.”

Added Peter Girardi, executive vp alternative programming at producer Warner Bros. Animation: “Three seasons down and I can’t even begin to think about the new levels of chaos and trouble that Harley, Ivy and the gang can get into with a fourth season. But I’m grateful to our partners at HBO Max for continuing this insane ride with us so we can all find out.”

Season three of Harley Quinn has followed Harley (voiced by Kaley Cuoco) and Poison Ivy (Lake Bell) as they return to Gotham as the new power couple of DC villainy. “Harlivy” strives to become the best version of themselves while also working towards Ivy’s long desired plan of transforming Gotham into an Eden paradise.

The cast also includes Ron Funches, J.B. Smoove, Alan Tudyk, Matt Oberg, Christopher Meloni, Andy Daly, Diedrich Bader, James Adomian, Sanaa Lathan, Briana Cuoco and Harvey Guillen.

Peters has written several episodes of the series. Her other writing and producing credits include Awkafina Is Nora From Queens, Master of None, Workaholics and Nathan for You.

“We are ecstatic that HBO Max wants the story of Harley and Ivy to continue,” Halpern and Schumacker said in a statement. “And we are equally thrilled that this next season will be in great hands with Sarah Peters as our showrunner and Ceci Aranovich overseeing animation production, as they have both greatly influenced the show with their brilliance since the beginning.”

The renewal for Harley Quinn comes as HBO Max parent Warner Bros. Discovery has been shelving (the Batgirl feature film) or removing titles from the streamer (including Infinity Train, about 200 Sesame Street episodes and a host of others) as it looks to cut costs following the Discovery-WarnerMedia merger. HBO Max laid off 70 staffers earlier this month and is cutting back on kids and family programming, though adult animation appears safe for now.

Halpern and Schumacker developed Harley Quinn with Dean Lorey. The executive producers for season three are Halpern, Schumacker, Kaley Cuoco, Sam Register, Jessica Goldstein and Chrissy Pietrosh.

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