Harley Quinn: The Animated Series

https://amp.reddit.com/r/HBOMAX/comments/hgiw74/hbo_max_is_sending_emails_to_subscribers_that/?__twitter_impression=true

The show is apparently coming to HBO Max.

Cool, another reason to feel invalid of subscribing to DC Universe

I like Fry and Leela, the more like that the merrier.

I thought Kite and Ivy had realistic chemistry, certainly a more grounded and believable one than the "cah-razy" chemistry between Harley and Ivy.

Believable is dependent on the person apparently.

https://www.syfy.com/syfywire/harley-quinn-eps-talk-the-evolution-of-harlivy-and-plans-for-season-3

Here's an interview with the show's producers about plans for a potential season 3. Spoilers are ahead.

Kite Man was grounded (heh), but I really feel there should be more to a relationship than "nice" and "not insane". Meeting the bare minimum requirements shouldn't really be rewarded.

If this was any other show I'd say nobody should date anyone for at least another season so they can all deal with their own problems, but they've been big on the whole love redeeming thing.

Man credit to Gordon he pulled this off perfectly.

Isn’t it explicitly not how “nice” or “not-insane” Kite-Man was that drew her to him, but his confidence? It’s an explicit plot point. She first latched into him because his outer confidence was an inspiration to her inner lack of confidence or something, and later that cemented because he was willing to go far out of his comfort zone simply for her behalf.

The idea that he’s just kind of this nice, boring dude with no traits is very recent in the show (as in, started four or five episodes ago). Which, come to think of it, is also present in Ivy as well: the idea that she secretly wanted a wild, adventurous life (as well as the idea that Kite-Man couldn’t help her attain one) I’d something that literally started in the affair episode: for about a season and a half, she was portrayed as the Straight Man who genuinely preferred stability and only entered crazy situations (with complaint) out of loyalty.

That’s why I think ultimately this was all the result of a Relationship Writing Fumble: they probably did intend for him to be a boring loser with little to call for him, but since they waited so long to start Harley / Ivy they had to keep giving him positive traits and their relationship close moments to justify Ivy still being with him in the interim, resulting in a Kite-Man that now does not fit that image, and to invent a new reason for why the relationship can’t work.

Edited by KnownUnknown on Jun 27th 2020 at 9:50:54 AM

I agree he's not boring with no traits, I'm just saying simply being a nice guy is not a foundation for a relationship, and that's the most common defense I hear for Kiteman.

But yeah, S1 Ivy and S2 Ivy don't really feel like the same character. Kiteman less so, I feel his overconfidence masking his insecurity was decently displayed in the first season, but they ramped it up this one.

And as I just said, simply being nice is not all they did with his character.

Edited by KnownUnknown on Jun 27th 2020 at 10:26:33 AM

It feels like this last episode rushed to deal with plot elements that would probably play out over a much longer arc in a Season 3, only for everyone to realize that they probably wouldn’t get one. Kite Man and Ivy being forced into a break up, plot ideas for Gordon’s jealousy going nowhere, so when Ivy and Harley finally kiss, it feels rushed. Best of the time they have.

Edited by Beatman1 on Jun 27th 2020 at 2:26:14 PM

Kiteman was always a Romantic False Lead but his character will benefit in this in media for decades to come.

Ivy's desire for adventure is older than that. Remember when she and Harley had that girls' night out melting corporate executives together?

What even was Kite Man's personality in the comics, just a guy who's miserable because his stupid gimmick doesn't work?

So I was wondering, does Joker still know Batman's secret identity?

Silver age kiteman was a straight supervillain who happened to use Kites. The brave and the bold's version was pretty accurate aside from the whole hating Ben Franklin thing.

The modern Kiteman with the dead son's a sad guy who's son got killed in a prank war between Joker and Riddler.

Harley Quinn's version is somewhere between the two.

Just to be sure, Comics!Kite Man just carried a gun?

Because most of villain without offensive power either hire thugs in bulk or just carry a gun.

Nah, he used gimmicky kites to commit crimes. The Kites were his weapon. Guns are usually reserved for the generic mob bosses.

Condiment King's an exception because he debuted in BTAS, but most of the typically considered joke villains weren't actually jokes until way down the line once people realized the concept was goofy.

Edited by Joshbones on Jun 28th 2020 at 10:52:32 AM

That's a wasted opportunity. Where else would you see weaponized hot sauce?

Kite Man was one of the few successful reimaginings in the modern age because they went with the idea, "What if Kite Man believed he was the most badass muther who ever lived?" Which is awesome.

Even in Brave in the Bold he was a joke.

Previously, it was Killer Moth who was treated as the punchline.

Pretty funny how even in Teen Titans where he's an actual threat and has a badass design, Killer Moth is still a big joke next to other major villains, even if he's not a Joke Character like anywhere else

Edited by VengefulBale on Jun 28th 2020 at 6:34:39 AM

Kite Man! Hell Yeah!

I mean, he just swoops in, grabs whatever shit he wants, and then he's gone like a leaf on the wind.

No muss, no fuss. I kinda wish they treated him the way Marvel treated Night Thrasher in the recent Contest Of Champions revival, where everyone tries to treat him like a joke, but he not only ignores them, but continually shows that he's incredibly effective.

Hell, even in his heyday in the nineties, fucking Punisher admitted that his use of a skateboard had far more utility than anyone would expect, with it being transportation, a shield, and an offensive weapon that's also super easy to carry.

Kite Man needs to be like that. Just swooping in, grabbing what he wants and being gone so fast that Batman is only finally able to put him down when he stops acting like he's just a joke and actually starts putting thought into how to deal with him.

It would just bake people's noodles.

A fucking kite will never be as viable as a skateboard. A simple stray wind can take him out.

This isn't to say that you can't have a character with a kite and a thief work (Carmen Sandeigo, Kaito Kid), but Kite Man portrayed like that sounds like it would throw off his actual charm as a character. Those aftermentioned characters have more going for them than just having a kite. Kite Man's character is literally just him being a man with a kite.

Edited by Prime_of_Perfection on Jul 3rd 2020 at 1:18:13 PM

I feel like the easiest way to make Kiteman a threat is to just stretch the kite gimmick as far as it can go. Pull a Green arrow and have a kite for every scenario, have kite themed weapons, and all that jazz.

The copout way would be to make him a no nonsense serial killer who happens to use kites, but that isn't fun.

That reminds me, have we ever seen Kite-Man commit any crimes in this show? We saw him recruit goons once, but, like, what does/did he do? He barely feels like a supervillain at all sometimes.

You can say that he takes possible changes in wind direction into account when he does his crimes, and he's just super good at it. Make him ridiculously effective, both due to the effort he puts into his gimmick to make it work, and due to people still kinda underestimating him.

As I recall, in his recent comics appearances, Kite-Man (HELL YEAH!) wasn't really big on killing anybody. He refused to join a big villain team up because of that in fact (and either nearly died for it, or flat out was killed, I'm not sure).

He's not a murderer, or a lunatic, or anything like that. He's just a thief who steals by flying in on a kite.

And he's good at it.