Harley Quinn Season 3 Pokes Fun At That Infamous Batman and Catwoman Debate

After a two-year hiatus, the first three episodes of the third season of Harley Quinn are now streaming on HBO Max. The road to the third season has been a long one, but fans agree it was worth the wait. The new episodes are getting high praise from critics and audiences alike, in fact, ComicBook.com‘s own Liam Crowley gave the new season a 4.5 out of 5 and called it a “grand slam.” Last year, the showrunners of Harley Quinn revealed Warner Bros. nixed a sex scene between Batman and Catwoman. They were told “heroes don’t do that” when they pitched “a moment where Batman was going down on Catwoman.” The news caused quite a stir online and many folks took to the Internet to share their opinions. Unsurprisingly, Harley Quinn poked fun at the controversy in the show’s third episode.

The third episode, “The 83rd Annual Villy Awards,” shows Harley’s crew crashing at Catwoman’s place while she stays at her boyfriend’s.  Poison Ivy video chats with Catwoman about the rules of the house and she tries to press for information about Catwoman’s mysterious romance, but Selina Kyle isn’t giving up that she’s dating Batman. When they hang up, Catwoman puts down the phone and Batman is sitting at her feet. He says, “Shall I continue?” Catwoman sighs and says, “It’s not worth it.” The moment is followed by a sad, awkward silence before it cuts to the Harley Quinn title card. 

Last year, showrunner Justin Halpern detailed the cut moment. “A perfect example of that is in this third season of Harley [when] we had a moment where Batman was going down on Catwoman,” Halpen revealed. “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.’”

Harley Quinn stars Kaley Cuoco as Harley; Lake Bell as Poison Ivy, Cheryl, and Barbara; Alan Tudyk as Joker, Clayface, Calendar Man, Doctor Trap, and Condiment King; Tony Hale as Doctor Psycho and Felix Faust; Ron Funches as King Shark; Jason Alexander as Sy Borgman; Matt Oberg as Kite Man; and J.B. Smoove as Frank the Plant. Season 3 will include a number of guest stars, including Harvey Guillen as Nightwing and The Suicide Squad writer-director James Gunn as himself.

The first three episodes of Harley Quinn Season 3 are now streaming on HBO Max.