Whether it’s DC’s animated comedy “Harley Quinn” or its spinoff series, “Kite Man: Hell Yeah!,” vulgar language and bloody violence are center stage for every episode. Katie Rich, a writer and executive producer on both, relishes that the shows’ villainous protagonists allow her and her team to crank up the “naughtiness” a few notches.
“Because they are bad people… the dirtiness and the funness is organic,” said Rich. “We are not forcing it to be an adult comedy, this is really who these people are.”
Rich was joined by fellow “Harley Quinn” and “Kite Man” writers and executive producers Patrick Schumacker and Justin Halpern, as well as series stars Lake Bell and James Adomian in the PvNew Studio, presented by Google TV, at 2024 San Diego Comic-Con to discuss the successes of their two raunchy animated series.
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“Harley Quinn” follows the titular villainess (Kaley Cuoco) and her sidekick and romantic partner Poison Ivy (Bell) as they run rampant with crime through the streets of Gotham. “Kite Man: Hell Yeah!,” a spin-off series that premiered in 2024, follows lesser villain Kite Man (Matt Oberg) and his girlfriend, Golden Glider (Cathy Ang), who become villains to fund the operations of their Gotham City Dive bar.
Despite the sometimes crude nature of “Kite Man,” at the heart of the show is a love story, according to Bell. A love story not only between Kite Man and Golden Glider, but also between all of Gotham’s misfit villains.
“I think of it as a love story,” says Bell. “It’s leading with a love story. I mean, [it has] blood, gore, guts, you know, killing and all the bag of dicks. But it’s really earnest in its love.”
“It’s an old-fashioned ‘save the farm’ story,” added Adomian, who voices Bane in “Kite Man” and “Harley Quinn.” “A community comes and rescues a beloved establishment through crime and bloodshed.”
With five successful seasons of “Harley Quinn” and the warm reception of “Kite Man’s” first, Schumacker says it is possible the DC animated universe could expand with a few more spinoff series.
“I think we can only speak in hypotheticals, right? But I do think sky’s the limit,” Schumacker said. “I think having done six collective seasons of ‘Kite Man’ and ‘Harley,’ I would feel confident giving a solo show to several characters. Let’s just say we’ve talked about it.”
