New Harley Quinn Season 3 Trailer Introduces Nightwing To The Show

HBO Max's animated series Harley Quinn just got a new trailer ahead of its upcoming 3rd season premiere, and it looks like fans of the show have plenty of the hilarious carnage they love in store for them. With a spotlight on one new character and the rest of the spotlights on the already lovably deranged cast, this show knows exactly how to hype up its long-awaited return.

Starting with Kaley Cuoco's Harley introducing everything in her own inimitable way, the trailer kicks things off with a comforting return to the irreverent vibe the show is known for. Plenty of fan favorites get their time to shine while drama stirs in the background. But perhaps the most noteworthy addition is a certain crime fighter whose brooding skills rival that of the caped crusader himself.

Harvey Guillén gets to show off his role as Nightwing right off the bat, with Harley quickly reacting as one would expect to the overly serious vigilante. The What We Do in the Shadows star nails the role, bringing exactly the sort of energy one would expect from someone basically raised by Batman. He even gets a scene with Diedrich Bader's Batman as the duo seems unaware that they sound eerily (and hilariously) similar. But while Nightwing will likely play an important role in this season's story, the real meat of the trailer comes from the beloved returning characters strutting their stuff once again.

As Harley and Lake Bell's Poison Ivy start off this season just after finally kicking off their chaotic romance, it looks as though they've both got some big plans for Gotham City. Ivy shares her plot to terraform the city, letting everything return to its natural state, while Harley's gang celebrates the new couple's return after driving off into the sunset at the end of last season. The trailer teases some turbulence between Harley and Ivy, though, which feels in line with Harley Quinn's trend of not shying away from genuinely serious moments when it has to.

Not everybody is back, it seems, as Tony Hale's Doctor Psycho is apparently still in Arkham Asylum after trying to dominate the planet, as one does. But other favorites are ready for action. Alan Tudyk is back as The Joker and Clayface, along with J.B. Smoove as Frank the Plant, Ron Funches as the surprisingly lovable King Shark, and Christopher Meloni as Commissioner Gordon to round out the leads (interestingly, Gordon appears to be listed as a regular this season). They're joined by fellow returning stars Sanaa Lathan as Catwoman, James Adomian as Bane, and Briana Cuoco as Batgirl/Barbara Gordon (and yes, that's her sister playing Harley).

The new season of Harley Quinn is super close now, so fans who have been waiting since 2020 for a continuation will finally see some sweet release soon. Don't worry, even once it's over, there's still that Kite Man spinoff to look forward to.

Harley Quinn's TV Series Just Became Official DC Canon

The hit Harley Quinn TV series on HBOMax has officially become DC Comics canon. Ever since her debut in Batman: The Animated Series, Harley Quinn has been a staple of DC across all media. Whether she's making appearances in comics focused on other characters or getting stories of her own, the sensational antihero has become iconic both in the comics and beyond. While she's gotten a new comic run every year or so, she's also made her way to the big screen in the live action Suicide Squad films and Birds of Prey. She's even found herself back on the small screen in her own series.

HBOMax's Harley Quinn is an adult animated series by Justin Halpern, Patrick Schumacker and Dean Lorey that follows Quinn not too long after her break-up with the Joker. She's joined by Poison Ivy as she tries to make a name for herself by becoming Gotham's next big villain. Along the way, she encounters countless Batman villains, friendships with DC favorites and an exploration of the romance between her and Ivy that's become beloved by comic fans everywhere. The series has been received positively by both critics and audiences because of its humor, tone and story, with the third season being highly anticipated by fans. Now, the influence of the series has officially made its way to comic canon.

Poison Ivy #1 by G. Willow Wilson and Marcio Takara features a moment in Ivy's past between her and Harley. The two are having a pretty nasty fight, alluding to the infamous break-up that would see the famous LGBTQ couple going their separate ways. What's interesting though is the shirt that Harley is wearing. On it is a graphic of Frank, a character from the Harley Quinn animated series created specifically for the show as a more foul-mouthed version of Audrey II from Little Shop of Horrors. He's a plant that's primarily seen as a supporting comedic relief that also helps Ivy through tough spots and has become a fan-favorite in the series. Now, he's officially made his debut in DC Comics, cementing the TV show as comics canon.

When putting this in perspective for the in-universe implications, it's pretty humorous to think that Harley perhaps convinced network executives to create a series about her misadventures. From her romance with Ivy to her attempts at making a name for herself, it's not farfetched that Quinn would want to show the world who she is in the one place where she can get it across best: television. Of course, the series could be seen as her own fantasy of how certain events would play out in her mind. After all, some pretty notable Batman heroes and villains meet gruesome fates throughout the show, so it could mirror what comic Harley believes them to be from her point of view.

Nevertheless, this little Easter egg demonstrates how much influence the show has had since it debuted. While the show has had its own adaptation in the comics with the Eat! Bang! Kill! Tour, this is the first instance of the show finally being in a new DC Comics story, even if it's just a little reference. Harley Quinn is a series that has continued to grow in popularity and making it officially canon in DC Comics just shows that it won't be going anywhere anytime soon.