From the gleefully violent to the surprisingly family-friendly, Harley Quinn is one of the most enduring and adaptable characters to ever emerge from Gotham City. And we're ranking all of her onscreen versions from worst to best.
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00:00From the gleefully violent to the surprisingly family-friendly, Harley Quinn is one of the
00:05most enduring and adaptable characters to ever emerge from Gotham City, and we're ranking
00:10all of her on-screen versions from worst to best.
00:13Surprisingly enough, the 1960s Batman show starring Adam West never actually featured
00:18an appearance by Two-Face.
00:20It took decades for fans to see what his inclusion might have looked like with the 2017 animated
00:24film Batman v. Two-Face, which was the final Batman project West ever worked on.
00:29It's pure campy fun, as Hugo Strange develops a machine that can suck the evil out of anyone.
00:35The only problem is that it explodes, partially covering Harvey Dent in liquefied evil and
00:39turning him into Two-Face.
00:40Harvey, look out!
00:43Harleen Quinzel, voiced by Serena Irwin, is Hugo's assistant, and that's pretty much the
00:47extent of her role save for an exclusive scene on the Blu-ray release.
00:51That extra scene involves Harleen breaking Joker out of a cell and adopting the new name
00:55of Harley Quinn.
00:57There's really nothing here to make the character stand out, even if it's cool to see what Harley's
01:00design might have been like had she existed in the 60s.
01:04Long before the Birds of Prey were best known for being led by the fantabulously emancipated
01:08Harley Quinn, they were tearing up TV screens in the early 2000s, though not for very long.
01:14Only one season was ever produced of the WB's Birds of Prey, after its impressive premiere
01:18numbers gave way to a steep decline in viewership.
01:21It's an odd little series that's notably averse to comic book canon.
01:24It features Oracle working out of Gotham's clock tower, but it also has a telepathic
01:28Black Canary, a Gotham that's been abandoned by Batman, and a Huntress who was born to
01:33a catwoman with literal cat powers that she can also manifest.
01:36Nothing, however, tops the take on Harley Quinn for sheer strangeness.
01:41As the show's antagonist, Harley is a conniving psychiatrist out for revenge on the Gotham
01:45elite who incarcerated her Mr. J. It's not a terrible idea on its own, but Mia Sara's
01:50Harley shares little in common with the Mistress of Mayhem that fans know and love.
01:54She smirks instead of cackling, coolly lays out her complex plans, and generally lacks
01:59the anarchic glee that makes Harley such a beloved character.
02:03There's a saying that there are no small parts, only small actors.
02:06With just over a minute of screen time, Harley isn't a major force in the 2019 animated movie
02:11Batman Hush, but she does get a standout moment.
02:14She's really only there to disrupt an opera and try to kill Bruce Wayne on the orders
02:18of Hush, who's kidnapped Joker.
02:20Hinden Walsh makes the most of her brief appearance as Harley, but there's so much story to tell
02:24that things quickly need to move along.
02:26Wah, wah, wah, cryin' clowns, who needs them, am I right?
02:31The Hush comic arc really exists as a rundown of the entire Batman mythos, and Harley is
02:35integral to that mythos.
02:37So it makes sense she'd factor into the story on-screen, no matter how briefly.
02:41But when ranking all of the various screen versions of Harley, there's not much to distinguish
02:45her from others that get much more to do.
02:48One of the best things about superhero stories is their flexibility.
02:52But while that openness to alternate universes often leads to truly inventive storytelling,
02:56it also creates some real stinkers.
02:58Case in point, 2015's Justice League Gods & Monsters, in which DC's premiere good guys
03:03are reimagined as brutal, world-conquering colossuses with little interest in accountability.
03:09This world's Harley Quinn is similarly dark.
03:11Clad in ripped lingerie, she takes apart corpses to construct the perfect family scene.
03:16She's taken down by a vampiric Batman, but not before she hits every tired item on the
03:20checklist of twisted 2010s superhero media.
03:23Chainsaws?
03:24Check.
03:25Reflection in a shattered mirror?
03:26Check.
03:27Girlish affectations contrasted by bloody violence?
03:29Check.
03:30It's brutal, bloody, and all the more boring for it.
03:33All right, all right, all ready.
03:36I know when I'm licked.
03:38The 2019 animated film Batman v. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles deserves credit for being one
03:43of the best TMNT crossovers ever.
03:45It's a pretty fun team-up, with Shredder causing problems in Gotham and putting the iconic
03:49heroes on a collision course with each other.
03:51Arguably, the most fun set piece occurs in Arkham Asylum, where Batman's rogues gallery
03:56have all been mutated into various animals.
03:59Mr. Freeze is a polar bear with an ice gun, while Two-Face sports two separate cat heads.
04:03And Harley Quinn is, naturally enough, a hyena.
04:06Tara Strong has proven repeatedly that she can do great voice work with this character,
04:10but in this case, Harley gets overshadowed by everything else going on.
04:14And let's face it, Harley being turned into a hyena is a tad predictable.
04:18It's neat to see her like this, but when there's a bear with a gun in the room, Harley can't
04:22help but feel safe.
04:242018's Suicide Squad Hell-To-Pay isn't bad, exactly, nor is its portrayal of Harley Quinn.
04:30Generally speaking, both are exactly what you might expect — violent, quirky, and
04:34uninterested in ethics.
04:36Committed DC fans will have fun seeing various lesser-known characters brought to animated
04:40life, while more casual watchers can enjoy some decently choreographed fight scenes.
04:44But really, that's where the praise has to end, especially when it comes to Harley.
04:48She's what you might get if you asked a computer to generate a version based upon the Harley
04:52Quinn merchandise available at any given geek convention.
04:55Again, it's not terrible, but it's nowhere near scintillating.
04:58This is the exact average of the Harley that lives in the public imagination, a perfectly
05:02adequate portrayal that meets the minimum and goes no further.
05:06Hey!
05:07We got cheese dogs and chicken nuggies!
05:11Blow me up now.
05:14Set in the universe of the Batman Arkham video games, 2014's Assault on Arkham throws pretty
05:19much everything it can into a dark, twisty mix.
05:22Harley is accordingly a patchwork of her most attention-grabbing traits, all of which have
05:25been emphasized to the point of absurdity.
05:28This isn't a bad thing, exactly — any decent portrayal of Harley Quinn needs to involve
05:32at least a little absurdity.
05:33But this is more than a little absurdity, as she bites the ears off her therapists and
05:38seduces Deadshot by waiting naked in his bed.
05:41And it actually sort of works.
05:42Hinden Walsh's performance is wonderfully nuanced, which goes a long way in sanding
05:46down the script's rough patches.
05:48Yet this Harley is so clearly calculated to appeal to the most id-driven adolescent fans
05:52that she never stops being faintly off-putting and exhausting.
05:56There's fun to be found here, but you have to make your way through a bloody, sticky
05:59gauntlet to get to it.
06:012021's Injustice features a fairly divisive plot that sees Superman manipulated by Joker
06:06into killing a pregnant Lois Lane.
06:09Superman then kills Joker in turn and pursues a darker path of justice where no bad guys
06:13can be tolerated.
06:15It falls in the tradition of modern superhero projects that pose the question, what if Superman
06:19turned evil?
06:20That's either an intriguing concept or a needless interpretation of a character who's supposed
06:24to represent all that's right.
06:27Either way, Superman isn't the only one in the film who displays both light and dark
06:30sides.
06:31Harley, here voiced by Gillian Jacobs, works with Joker at first and helps kill Jimmy Olsen.
06:37After being apprehended, she's protected by Green Arrow to spare her from Superman's vengeance,
06:41and she then decides to work with the good guys.
06:44Jacobs does a great job, essentially turning Harley into a bratty child that Green Arrow
06:47has to babysit.
06:49She provides much of the levity in an otherwise dark story, but she also has moments of genuine
06:53emotion.
06:54Ultimately, Injustice offers a neat showcase of how Harley is influenced by those around
06:58her, and with Joker out of the picture, she does see value in doing good.
07:02I'm a hero now, hero Harley!
07:06The Harley Quinn of the Gotham TV series isn't technically Harley.
07:10Instead, she's Echo, the right-hand woman to Joker stand-in Jeremiah Valeska.
07:15Like her inspiration, Echo also began as a professional woman who eventually plummeted
07:19into gleeful insanity and deranged devotion.
07:22Unlike everything else in Gotham, she's the classic character seen through a new prism,
07:26at once clearly identifiable but also entirely new.
07:29What results is strange but largely satisfying.
07:32Harley has always been a tragic figure, as well known for her pitiful dependence upon
07:36the Joker as for her cheeky one-liners.
07:38But Echo's story is sharper in its sadness, accelerating Harley's dedication into literal
07:43worship.
07:44She shoots herself in the head to prove herself to Jeremiah, leads cults centered around him,
07:49and helps him fake being braindead.
07:51It's an odd take best left outside mainstream DC storytelling, but it's intriguing enough
07:55to indulge within the refracted world of Gotham.
07:58There'll never be one like you.
08:01Really?
08:03Megan Strange took on the role of Harley for the Emperor Joker episode of the animated
08:06series Batman the Brave and the Bold.
08:09Instead of the usual jester get-up, she's dressed like a flapper with the rest of Joker's
08:13henchmen also wearing black and white.
08:15It sets up the final action set piece wherein everyone loses their voice, and all of the
08:19dialogue comes via cue cards.
08:21This leads to some fun fourth wall breaks where Harley and Batmite use those cards to
08:25beat up Joker's goons.
08:27Flapper Harley is pretty fun, while also demonstrating some real pathos as she realizes that Joker
08:31will never be as obsessed with her as he is with Batman.
08:34With reality getting thrown out the window, Joker is able to kill Batman over and over
08:39again, leaving her out to dry.
08:41It's a surprisingly nuanced portrayal of the character, where she still gets ample one-liners.
08:46Harley would appear in this continuity again in the animated films Scooby-Doo and Batman
08:50the Brave and the Bold, but with Tara Strong taking over the voice.
08:53With either actor, though, this is a pretty fun take on Harley.
08:572020's justicely dark Apocalypse War is the final film set within the DC animated movie
09:02universe, and it doesn't pull any punches.
09:05It might even be difficult for some fans to watch, as many classic DC heroes and villains
09:10get killed almost immediately by Darkseid's forces.
09:13But for those willing to take the plunge, it's pretty rewarding.
09:16Only a small ragtag group remains to try to defeat Darkseid, and that leads them to team
09:21up with the new leader of the Suicide Squad, Harley Quinn.
09:24Harley's presence and sense of humor are desperately needed in Apocalypse War.
09:28After all, there's an entire sequence where the likes of Green Lantern and The Flash get
09:32torn apart while Superman is depowered and tortured via liquid kryptonite.
09:37It's not the sort of thing you turn on to feel good, but once Harley comes into the
09:40picture, neither is it all doom and gloom.
09:43The giddy way in which she talks about taking charge of the Suicide Squad because Amanda
09:47Waller died of cancer is the peak of dark humor.
09:50It also makes it clear how Harley would be uniquely equipped to handle the end days without
09:54skipping a beat.
09:55"'Azy-pazy, rich and cheesy.
09:58Ha ha!"
09:59This is honestly Hynden Walsh's best Harley Quinn performance in the DC animated movie
10:03universe, as she really gets a chance to explore new avenues of the character.
10:08It may be the end of the world as we know it, but Harley's feeling fine.
10:12The animated series Batman Beyond chronicles cantankerous septuagenarian Bruce Wayne's
10:16attempts to pass on his crime-fighting expertise to the teenage Terry McGinnis.
10:21For the most part, the old Batman villains are either entirely gone or represented through
10:25the effect they had upon Gotham's underworld.
10:28For example, the Deedees are twin girls in raggedy and wigs and go-go boots who have
10:32a connection to the Clown Prince of Crime.
10:34The character who reveals this is their Nana Harley, who bails the girls out of jail at
10:39the end of the Return of the Joker movie.
10:41"'You rotten little scamps!"
10:44The implications are tantalizing.
10:46Is their grandfather the Joker?
10:48Did the Deedees turn to crime to emulate or scorn Harley?
10:51How did she escape the supervillain life, or is she actually still part of it?
10:55Return of the Joker's plot rests upon a scheme decades in the making, in which Harley very
11:00nearly got the chance to play mother alongside Joker's father to a brainwashed Tim Drake.
11:05How might the foiling of that domestic bliss have led to the stout, cardigan-wearing grandma
11:09we glimpse at the end of the movie?
11:11These are questions with no answers, but the fact that Nana Harley inspires them is enough
11:15to make her appearance quite memorable.
11:18It's hard to categorize the Lego Movie's take on DC Comics according to any typical standard.
11:23Sure, major characters like Batman and other Justice Leaguers are there, wearing their
11:27usual costumes and wielding their usual powers.
11:30But this Batman blasts his own dubstep tracks, while Superman boasts about the Phantom Zone
11:34having the sickest baddies.
11:36If these portrayals are comparable to anything, it's the 1960s Batman TV show.
11:41They're entertaining precisely because they're such dramatic departures from the norm.
11:45Harley Quinn is voiced by Jenny Slate in this land of plasticized adventure, and the PG
11:49rating certainly allows the character to return to her goofier roots.
11:53She poses as an employee of Phantom's own laundry service, roller skates her way through
11:57the Joker's lair, and cycles through a series of comic accents.
12:01She's genuinely funny, an aspect of the character often buried beneath violence and sex appeal.
12:06She also actually gets to play psychologist to a bummed-out Joker, making for a more serious
12:10incorporation of Harley's professional past than most versions allow.
12:15This Harley might be made of plastic, but she's all heart.
12:18The Batman, which aired on Kids' WB and the Cartoon Network from 2004 to 2008, was a sleek
12:24and often controversial take on the superhero.
12:27Fans remain split to this day over the unruly mane of hair sported by the Joker, to say
12:31nothing of his shoelessness.
12:33Harley was no exception to the unique style, as she hosts a call-in advice show called
12:37Heart to Heart with Harley.
12:39She's more of a diva than a doctor.
12:41When she's axed by her network for ambushing Bruce Wayne with a date he ditched, she takes
12:45to the Joker's side immediately.
12:47This version of Harley definitely isn't for everyone, most especially those who find her
12:51fall from grace all the more affecting for its unlikeliness.
12:55But The Batman isn't Batman the Animated Series, and this change to Harley suits the show's
12:59slicker, slightly cynical style.
13:02Call me Harley Quinn!
13:05The 2018 animated movie Batman Ninja transports a bunch of DC characters to feudal Japan,
13:10and Harley Quinn arguably fares the best out of anyone.
13:13The ruffles on her suit fit into the jester vibe perfectly, and her purple hair ties her
13:17into the Joker's overall color scheme pretty well.
13:20The personality is on point, too, with Rie Kugimiya serving as the Japanese voice actor
13:25and Tara Strong taking over for the English dub.
13:28What's interesting about this take is how much Harley really feels like a trickster.
13:32She's a master of disguise, wearing a Joker get-up at one point and also dressing up as
13:36an unassuming old woman.
13:38Ultimately, this Harley is just plain fun, and it feels so right.
13:42Hi, pretty kitty!
13:452017's Batman & Harley Quinn is a throwback to Batman the Animated Series on multiple
13:50levels.
13:51Its visuals are a wholehearted return to 1992, embracing Bruce Timm's legendary designs over
13:56the blockier look of its contemporaries.
13:59Moreover, Timm co-wrote the story, and Animated Series veterans Kevin Conroy and Lauren Lester
14:04return to voice Batman and Nightwing, respectively.
14:07Harley is no exception to this trend, as she's clad in her original costume and lacks the
14:11bloodlust that so many future adaptations instilled in her.
14:14I don't make deals with psychopaths.
14:17Sociopath!
14:18So-she-o-path!
14:19Alas, the movie itself is middling and prone to the same excesses as other DC animated
14:26original features.
14:28Case in point, in an ill-advised attempt to create a sexy shot, animators accidentally
14:32portrayed Harley with two pairs of buttocks.
14:35But beneath that misstep, there lies a Harley who is, in fact, quite a lot of fun.
14:39She knows how to tell a joke, sings karaoke, and sometimes wants to do the right thing,
14:44even if it's through the wrong means.
14:46Ranking Lady Gaga's Lee Quinzel amongst all the other Harley-quins is tough.
14:51Objectively, she gives a great performance in Joker Folia Do.
14:54She goes toe-to-toe with Joaquin Phoenix's Oscar-winning take on Arthur Fleck, aka Joker,
14:59and she definitely has the pipes to deliver on the movie's musical sequences.
15:03It's just that she doesn't have much to do in this take on the character, which feels
15:06scared to dive too deeply into Harley's psyche beyond being obsessed with Joker.
15:11She falls in love with the idea of Joker, supporting him throughout his trial, and Joker,
15:15in turn, begins to see a life with her.
15:17Aside from her colorful outfits, she sort of just blends in with the rest of Joker's
15:21supporters in and outside the courtroom, who see him as a folk hero of sorts standing up
15:25to the corrupt elite.
15:27Ultimately, and to no surprise, this is a Joker story, so Harley winds up feeling underdeveloped.
15:32If the standalone Joker movies lent themselves more to spinoffs, one could argue they were
15:36merely setting up more to come with her.
15:38As it stands, it's likely a one-and-done affair.
15:41Director Todd Phillips even spoke to Variety about creating this grounded Harley before
15:45the film's release, saying,
15:46"...the high voice, that accent, the gum-chewing and all that sort of sassy stuff that's in
15:50the comics, we stripped that away.
15:52The approach works for this type of film, but ultimately, it's a Harley that's not much
15:56of a Harley."
15:59Every generation gets its own Justice League cartoon, and Justice League action is a bright-eyed
16:03vision in which the fights are fierce and the jokes are plentiful.
16:06It's a whole lot of fun, and Harley Quinn comes right along for the boisterous ride.
16:10This is Harley at her most Harley.
16:13For example, take her voice.
16:15Tara Strong has played her before, but this time, she cranks her performance up to a bizarre
16:19baby doll pitch that works like gangbusters.
16:21You don't look so good, swampy.
16:22How about a pick-me-up?
16:23That more-is-more approach is Justice League action's Harley in a nutshell, and it's just
16:31delightful.
16:33It's impossible to spend time with this Harley and not end up with a smile on your face and
16:37a refreshed love of superheroics in general.
16:40In an era when Harley Quinn is at her most culturally visible and least kid-friendly,
16:44it's a feat of serious magnitude to pull off a G-rated version of her.
16:48But somehow, DC Superhero Girls managed to make it happen.
16:52Launched alongside a whole host of tie-in comics, dolls, pajamas, and school supplies,
16:57DC Superhero Girls reimagines the leading ladies of the DC universe as high school students.
17:02Harley is at her energetic best here, underscored by an unexpected willingness on the part of
17:06the show to get downright macabre.
17:08Yes, she's a schoolgirl who bonds with her bestie Barbara Gordon over getting to go to
17:12Gotham Con, an occasion they celebrate with a lavish dance sequence.
17:16But cockroaches tumble around their feet as they do it, and the chalked-body outlines
17:20of a crime scene join in with a festive jig.
17:22This is a Harley you can watch with your kids, as plenty of youngsters like a bit of black
17:26humor every once in a while.
17:28Teenage Harley is a new take for sure, but it's one that's so natural, it's a wonder
17:32she took so long to arrive.
17:33I'm a little loser!
17:36Isekai is an anime genre in which regular characters are transported to a more fantastical
17:41realm.
17:42In that vein, Suicide Squad Isekai features Harley Quinn, Deadshot, Peacemaker, and other
17:47members of Task Force X in a universe with all sorts of mystical monsters.
17:51The narrative can get bogged down with some confusing storylines, but the main attraction
17:55here is clearly Harley, who's voiced by Anna Nagase in the original Japanese.
18:00Even with a bomb in her neck and frequent imprisonments, Harley never loses her sense
18:04of humor, often pointing out the overall absurdity of the team's situation.
18:08She also delivers utter insanity, which is needed in a storyline like this, and she's
18:12involved in some of the coolest fight scenes we've ever gotten out of her.
18:16It is worth questioning if it really makes sense that Harley could hold her own against
18:20katana-entrained military members, but that doesn't matter when it's all as superbly animated
18:25as this show is.
18:26Isekai also gives Harley some softer moments where it's clear that she truly cares about
18:30others, as when she develops a bond with a baby dragon.
18:33Unlike standalone animated movie appearances, this Harley gets ample development through
18:38glimpses of the various pieces of her personality.
18:41Debuting on Amazon Prime Video in 2024, Batman Caped Crusader offers another interesting
18:46variation on Harley, who's voiced this time by Jamie Chung.
18:50First and foremost, Joker doesn't factor into Season 1's plot.
18:54Instead, Harley's backstory is altered so that she's a psychiatrist for Gotham's elite
18:58who kidnaps wealthy men and transfers their fortunes to aid women's shelters.
19:02She's like a twisted Robin Hood, and without Joker as an intrinsic part of her origin,
19:06she's allowed to fully stand on her own.
19:08In many iterations, Joker and Harley have an abusive relationship, but the Harley of
19:12Caped Crusader chooses a life of crime all on her own, thereby demonstrating how the
19:17character still makes sense even without the Joker.
19:20Bruce Timm, who co-created Harley for Batman the Animated Series and developed Caped Crusader,
19:25has revealed that he was excited about doing something new with his creation.
19:29As he explained to Entertainment Weekly,
19:31"...the original Dr. Quinzel was a little bit more serious.
19:34And then when she became Harley, she got really goofy and weird.
19:37So we thought, what if we reverse that?
19:40Ultimately, it's a unique and welcome interpretation of an iconic character."
19:44"'You can have all the pudding you want.'"
19:47Harley Quinn reached truly stratospheric heights in 2019 when she became the star of her very
19:51own animated series.
19:53This is no ensemble show.
19:54Instead, it's all Harley, all the time.
19:57The first episode makes that especially clear by having her break up with the Joker, a decision
20:01that could have sunk the entire Enterprise.
20:04Sure, she's had a lot of adventures on her own, but isn't Harley defined by her relationship
20:08with her dear, demented puddin'?
20:10"'You don't ever break up with me.
20:12I'm the top supervillain in Gotham!'
20:15"'Not for long, because you're looking at your replacement.'"
20:18But by kicking the Joker to the curb, the show launches its protagonist into the wider
20:22wilds of the DC universe and finds that a character as zany and kinetic as Harley has
20:27a lot to offer in plenty of scenarios.
20:29This isn't to say that the show is perfect — far from it, in fact.
20:33At its worst, it thinks that being crass is the same thing as being interesting.
20:36But at its best, it's a triumphant capstone on a breakout character's long career as a
20:41scene-stealer.
20:43Gotham Girls was unprecedented in a lot of ways.
20:45For one thing, it was a cartoon created exclusively for the internet, which in 2000 was nearly
20:50unheard of.
20:52For another, it was focused entirely on the women of Gotham, especially Harley Quinn,
20:56Poison Ivy, Catwoman, and Batgirl.
20:59Though its Flash-powered animation looks rather jerky and flat to modern eyes, it was a revelation
21:04at the time and a true trailblazer.
21:06The Harley of Gotham Girls is essentially the Harley of Batman the Animated Series,
21:10from her voice acting to her design.
21:13She's a wonderful take on the character, and as the show unfolds, she winds up going in
21:17a very different, unique direction.
21:19Inhabiting a female-dominated world changes Harley subtly, freeing her to be weirder,
21:24wilder, and generally more interesting.
21:26None of the characters have to be the girlfriend, the sidekick, or the femme fatale.
21:31Harley isn't the Joker's pet, but a villainess in her own right.
21:34Watching her get to be a goofball without any baggage is like a nice little vacation
21:38from all the other Harleys.
21:39I hate bears, P.U.
21:42The DC Extended Universe was an odd beast before it was ultimately scrapped.
21:47However, there's still plenty to enjoy within the franchise, with a clear high mark being
21:51Margot Robbie's interpretation of Harley Quinn.
21:532016's Suicide Squad wasn't great overall, but Robbie was phenomenal in translating Harley's
21:59more cartoonish sensibilities to the big screen.
22:02This Harley is still very much a tragic figure, as she evolves from longing to have a normal
22:06life with Joker to realizing he doesn't really care about her.
22:092020's Birds of Prey provides a much more fully realized Harley, who strikes out on
22:13her own without the Clown Prince of Crime.
22:16She's the zany force tying all the other central characters together.
22:19Then, in 2021's The Suicide Squad, she's completely out on her own, exemplifying her silliness
22:25and compassion all in one.
22:27Many actors got sidelined or weren't able to do everything they likely would have wanted
22:31with their characters in the DCEU, but Robbie was lucky enough to be able to play one of
22:35the best Harleys of all time.
22:37Yeah.
22:38Tacos?
22:39Decades have passed since the debut of Batman the Animated Series, but the years have hardly
22:44dimmed its luminous reputation.
22:46If anything, the love has only deepened.
22:49With every lesser Batman adaptation that debuts in its wake, its triumphs are only
22:53thrown into sharper relief.
22:55And with every passing year, the series' unique contributions to the Dark Knight's mythos
22:59only embed themselves more deeply within all other iterations of the DC Universe, most
23:03prominently with Harley Quinn.
23:06Initially intended to be a brief walk-on role for Arlene Sorkin, an old friend of series
23:10creator Paul Dini, Harley took on a life of her own from the first frame of her appearance
23:14in the episode Joker's Favor.
23:17No one has ever captured Harley's particularly lopsided charm as well as Sorkin, whose Harley
23:21plays jump rope with the line between comedy and tragedy.
23:24She's a joyous failure, a cackling cast-off, a psychologist who ran away and joined the
23:29circus.
23:30Lesser takes on the character forsake this muddled middle ground for something simpler,
23:34whereas the animated series got it pretty much perfect from the start.
23:37Harley Quinn, pleased to meet you!