Warning: The following contains SPOILERS for Harley Quinn season 3.The Harley Quinn season 4 story may be wildly different from earlier seasons, thanks to the big changes in store for Harley and her team of villains. The adult animated series is famous for its extensive cast of characters and how deeply it explored the DC Universe, with Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy teaming up with more obscure villains like Clayface, King Shark, and Doctor Psycho. Sadly, the events of Harley Quinn season 3 suggest that the band might be breaking up.
The main story of Harley Quinn season 3 centered upon the romantic relationship between Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn and their difficulties adjusting to life as partners in crime and in love. Despite this focus, there were also a number of subplots based around the other members of their supervillain gang. Chief among these was a storyline about aspiring actor and shape-shifter Clayface and his efforts to win the lead role in James Gunn’s latest movie, a biopic on the life and death of Dr. Thomas Wayne.
Related: Every Batman Reference In Bruce Wayne’s Harley Quinn Memories
The Harley Quinn season 3 finale established multiple changes in the status quo of the series, with Poison Ivy accepting a job offer from Lex Luthor to lead a revitalized Legion of Doom. At the same time, Harley realized that she was an anti-hero rather than a villain and started working in earnest to protect Gotham City. Factor in that The Joker was elected mayor of Gotham City and that Bruce Wayne was imprisoned for tax evasion, and it all adds up to a whole mess of drama for everyone to deal with in Harley Quinn season 4.
The Bat-Family Will Play A Bigger Role In Harley Quinn Season 4
While little seems certain about the storyline for Harley Quinn season 4, it feels like a safe bet that the Bat Family will play a more prominent role than in previous seasons. Harley Quinn season 3 introduced Nightwing to the show and developed the friendship of sorts between Harley Quinn and Batgirl. With Batgirl officially in charge of the Bat Family in Bruce Wayne’s absence and Harley having learned Batman’s secret identity, the door is open for Harley to set up shop in the Batcave, working alongside the other heroes of Gotham City, despite her not fully embracing the Bat-Family No-Kill Rule.
One major question that Harley Quinn season 4 will have to address is how Joker being mayor will affect the Bat-Family. While Harley Quinn season 3 saw the Joker make peace with Harley and Ivy while taking on the role of a stay-at-home father, he freely admitted to not having changed beyond having “a better reason to kill.” The grim irony is that while Joker may be as spiteful and mad as ever, he is also the best mayor Gotham City has ever had, cleaning up institutional corruption, starting with dismantling the GCPD due to Jim Gordon’s continued incompetence. One interesting possibility is that Harley Quinn season 4 might see Mayor Joker emulate the heroic Joker of Batman: White Knight, who declared war on the city’s vigilantes while fighting for sweeping social reforms as an aspiring city councilman.
Will Harley’s Team Get Back Together?
Another big question regarding Harley Quinn season 4 is whether Harley’s gang will continue to work together as much as they did before. While Harley and Ivy remain a romantic couple and have agreed to keep living together despite their now working on opposite sides of the law professionally, the rest of their gang seem to be moving on from the apartment they shared with Catwoman, having found success with their own side-hustles outside of Harley’s gang. Perhaps the best example of this is Nanaue, who is now truly King Shark, having claimed the throne of the undersea kingdom once ruled by his father earlier in Harley Quinn season 3. While his new title and responsibilities didn’t seem to hinder his ability to come to the surface world to help Harley and Ivy with fighting a zombie apocalypse, King Shark probably won’t be hanging around Harley and Ivy’s apartment playing video games anymore.
Related: Is Harley Quinn & Poison Ivy’s Relationship Doomed After Season 3?
The fate of Clayface is also in question following the Harley Quinn season 3 finale. While Clayface finally found the fame and respect he longed for as an actor, he did it while impersonating Billy Bob Thornton, whom he was forced to replace after accidentally causing the acclaimed actor’s untimely death. Clayface did not appreciate the irony that he had been so successful in disappearing into a role, that the public thought that Billy Bob Thornton was a shape-shifting mud monster once he revealed the deception. It remains to be seen if Harley Quinn season 4 will see Clayface abandoning his dreams of Hollywood stardom or embracing the chance he has been given for the sake of continued casting. In either case, he is unlikely to be available to help Harley Quinn with her new job as a hero.
Harley Quinn is streaming exclusively on HBO Max.
