As James Gunn’s reinvention of the DC movie and TV universe gathers momentum, it would be easy to forget about the previously existing DC adaptations that are continuing alongside Gunn’s new vision. I hope that won’t be the case for Max’s veteran adult animated series “Harley Quinn,” which returns this week for its fifth season without losing any of its charm or inventiveness.
Gunn’s fellow Max animated series “Creature Commandos” has been getting all the attention thanks to its designation as the official launch of the new DC Universe, but “Harley Quinn” has its own intricate and rewarding continuity, without the need to connect to a myriad of other movies and TV series. Instead, the series about onetime Batman villain Harley Quinn (Kaley Cuoco) offers its own twisted takes on a variety of DC characters, mixing genuine affection for superhero storytelling with an irreverent approach to the genre’s clichés.
The fifth season maintains that appealing balance, while deepening some of the character relationships and telling a high-stakes superhero story with plenty of snarky humor.
‘Harley Quinn’ features a fantastic ensemble of heroes and villains
More than ever, the core of the series is the relationship between Harley and her girlfriend/soulmate Poison Ivy (Lake Bell), which has grown from an internet-fueled fan-favorite pairing into a meaningful romantic partnership. Late in the season, Ivy makes a self-aware joke about all the online “shippers” who would have a meltdown if Harley and Ivy ever broke up, but their dynamic gives the show the emotional resonance to go along with the vulgar jokes.
Across five seasons, “Harley Quinn” has also built up an impressive roster of supporting characters, offering clever riffs on both famous and obscure DC characters. After Harley spent much of the fourth season trying to become a full-on superhero as a member of Batman’s Bat-family, the fifth season returns to the focus to villainy, although the show’s depressed, whiny version of Bruce Wayne (Diedrich Bader) is still hanging around. The show’s needy, dim-witted take on Superman (James Wolk) also makes a few appearances, but he sits out most of the season, even though it’s set in his home base of Metropolis.
Those big-name characters are relative afterthoughts in the world of “Harley Quinn,” and fans will be more eager to see longtime supporting characters Bane (James Adomian), King Shark (Ron Funches) and Clayface (Alan Tudyk) join Harley and Ivy in Metropolis, even though it’s been several seasons since Harley had her own supervillain team.
At times the writers struggle to find meaningful storylines for these veteran characters — King Shark’s annoying young son is one of the season’s weak points — but Bane and Clayface end up with key roles to play in the climax.
The new season of ‘Harley Quinn’ is rejuvenated by a new setting
As the opening scenes of the season premiere indicate, “Harley Quinn” has spent so much time destroying Harley and Ivy’s hometown of Gotham City that the place has become nearly post-apocalyptic. In part to get away from horrors that include rampant mutant rats and puddles of radioactive waste, and in part to shake up their staid home life, Harley and Ivy decide to move to the nearby city of Metropolis, a gleaming bastion of modernity in contrast to Gotham’s cesspool of crime.
Of course, once Harley and Ivy show up, chaos soon follows, and that’s before they discover that so many of their old associates have also made the move to Metropolis. The season’s main villain is the alien android Brainiac (Stephen Fry), whose arrival was teased at the end of last year’s spin-off “Kite Man: Hell Yeah!,” but he’s a bit detached from the action until the later episodes, and Harley and Ivy spend more time with Lex Luthor’s seemingly less evil sister Lena (Aisha Tyler).
Lena’s grand vision for Metropolis is obviously sinister, and she’s a bit too similar to last season’s fellow alluring girlboss menace Talia al Ghul, but Tyler gives her a distinctive personality that’s a bit like the villainous version of her “Archer” character Lana Kane. As has been the pattern in previous seasons, “Harley Quinn” starts off with smaller-scale threats before building to potential world-ending stakes in the final episodes.
Superhero fans need to watch ‘Harley Quinn’
That particular structure to the season means that anyone looking for superhero action will find plenty of it, and comic book fans who are fascinated by ongoing continuity can start at the beginning of “Harley Quinn” to explore the complex world the show has created. This season brings in plot points from “Kite Man” as well, especially in the new status quo for the surprisingly lovable Bane, who’s now the father figure in a makeshift family.
That’s not to say that “Harley Quinn” has turned into a grim spectacle or a convoluted soap opera — it’s still consistently funny, with fast-paced episodes that clock in around 22 minutes each. As hilarious as it can be, though, “Harley Quinn” never treats its characters as jokes, and when their lives are on the line, I’m just as invested as a viewer as I would be in a more serious show.
James Gunn has an entire studio’s movie and TV slate to play with, but “Harley Quinn” creates a vibrant superhero universe all on its own.
The fifth season of "Harley Quinn" premieres January 16 on Max.
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