DC’s latest version of Harley Quinn is not tied to any man, not even the Joker, in Batman: Caped Crusader.
All 10 episodes of Amazon Prime Video’s new animated series were released on August 1. It tells a retro story in which Bruce Wayne and Batman fight a new villain in each episode and has several overarching storylines.
One of the most notable characters is Dr. Harleen Quinzel, who is later seen as the one and only Harley Quinn. In an exciting twist from the past, Dr. Quinzel works as Bruce’s psychiatrist and is initially portrayed as a thoughtful figure who is concerned about his mental health but also understands that he is hiding something.
While Crusader with cape has been described as a retelling of famous Batman stories, but the changes to Harley Quinn go beyond her portrayal as an Asian American.
The new Harley Quinn explains life without the Joker
As part of a roundtable event for Batman: The Masked Crusader At the San Diego Comic-Con, Harley Quinn’s voice actress Jamie Chung described her version as “a feminist role:”
“Well, I mean, I kind of like the fact that it’s, I guess you could say, a kind of feminist role.”
She further explained that the creators, including Bruce Timm (Batman: The Animated Series), “really flipped the switch” Harley not to have connected with the Joker, adding that she loves the fact that “Her very existence … does not revolve around a man:”
“But I love that her very existence, as you said, doesn’t revolve around a man. You know, I think that’s where they really flipped the switch, but I kind of loved hearing the origin story of how she, you know, became a psychiatrist and learned the ins and outs. I mean, that’s pretty common, right?”
In Crusader with capeviewers can see Dr. Harleen Quinzel before she meets her alter ego. Chung explained that fans “Understand why she does the work” and how she is doing it, “to take all this information to manipulate their customers:”
“I mean, in terms of Harley Quinn’s story, but, you know, you understand why she does the work, and she does the work because she wants to use and take all this information to manipulate her clients.”
Chung drew a parallel to this new version of Harley and called it “a Robin Hood of Gotham” and added: “She doesn’t need a sugar daddy”:
“She’s really like a Robin Hood of Gotham and you know, she takes from the rich and gives to herself, so she doesn’t need a moneyed daddy. She just messes up all these people’s heads. She’s my hero.”
Big changes to Caped Crusader
In addition to some fundamental changes to the character Harley Quinn, the Penguin in the series is a woman, Oswalda Cobblepot.
Minnie Driver voices the new gender-swapped version of the famous villain and shared some of her thoughts on the same panel at SDCC. Driver defended the choice, calling this gender-swapping “Organic” and added that it “absolutely credible” for the penguin “sexless:”
“It’s organic, it’s completely believable that this bizarre, strange, larger-than-life figure has no gender.”
As fans can expect, Driver added: “the essence of the penguin” is most important with regard to the comics and the animated series from the 1990s:
“Because it’s really what we’re looking at, the essence of Penguin, the essence of the original comics and the original animated series. You know what I mean, the way that person was drawn. I think that’s what we went for.”
With the launch of the new series in Episode 1, both old and new fans of the animated Batman can follow the development of Oswalda Cobblepot’s villainous conspiracy.
Another big change is that Hamish Linklater takes over the voice of Bruce Wayne and Batman after the death of Kevin Conroy.
Linklater stated during the panel discussion that he “Follow Kevin’s voice” for his new Batman before he finds his own version.
Another insightful insight into this version of the iconic comic book character came from a piece of advice Bruce gave to Timm Linklater. The actor explained that Timm told him “Batman is the person. That’s the human and Bruce Wayne is the invention.”
This prompted Linklater to ask himself the question: “What would a millionaire and Casanova sound like in his 40s?” This ultimately led to his outstanding performance as Bruce and Bat in Crusader with cape.
Every episode of Batman: The Masked Crusader is now streaming on Amazon Prime Video.
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