The wild and unabashed universe that is Max’s Harley Quinn was an amazing breakthrough for DC Comics as a whole. Though an animated series for the Suicide Squad’s chaotic cornerstone character seemed like a no-brainer, its on-going run has been spectacular. With the studio’s move to focus on lesser known characters, it was a surprise that an unlikely supervillain, Kite Man, would get the spotlight. However, Kite Man: Hell Yeah! continues to prove that taking less popular characters and giving them a strong narrative backbone can work.
Kite Man: Hell Yeah! picks up from the events of Harley Quinn‘s latest season. This time, Kite Man (Matt Oberg) and his lover Golden Glider (Stephanie Hsu) are going through the motions of maintaining their stable relationship. Dealing with problems from Kite Man’s terrible family life to Lex Luthor’s (Lance Reddick) Legion of Doom, the “dastardly” duo, with their friends, have to figure out how to make everything work. The only question to ask is, will the two be able to get anything right?
Firstly, Kite Man: Hell Yeah! is still able to have a hook on that cynically snarky, yet hysterical humor this universe is known for. So many jokes in the show, ranging from those about Kite Man’s emotional inabilities to Bane’s (James Adomian) stunted career, are handled with enough wit as to not make them feel overplayed. Some topical jokes are also thrown about here and there, but fortunately, they don’t take up the bigger picture. The writing around the comedy works hand-in-hand with each episode’s story to build up to some good payoff moments with each character. For a spinoff set within the Harley Quinn world, the show nails that aspect even more so thanks to the main cast’s chemistry.
Speaking about the main cast, they really have some great chemistry together throughout this entire season. Returning characters, from Bane to the Queen of Fables (Janelle James), have their moments to shine, particularly in the later episodes. New characters, including the mafioso Joe (Michael Imperioli) and the masochistic goth girl Malice (Natasia Demetriou), are some well-founded additions to this universe, especially in Malice’s case with her own hidden lore. On top of these actors, Jonathan Banks‘s old, yet wise Noonan wonderfully rounds out this gang of misfits. In most episodes, every actor is able to bounce off each other in a way that almost feels natural, albeit the series is made to be fast-paced to keep viewers hooked.
For those who were also wondering if Kite Man: Hell Yeah! gets wild with its action, then it definitely does. From the occasional bloody “goon army” beatdown to the many explosions that see these fights end, this series never stresses to pull back its punches. The fights get even crazier later on, with one seeing Kite Man and Golden Glider having to battle with a giant kaiju chicken after some very crazy circumstances. The battles in this show might have outdone those in the original series and this show’s overarching story adds on to what could lead to greater things to come.
The show’s overarching story is split between Kite Man and Golden Glider’s arcs, but both of their narratives are closely interwoven. Kite Man continues to desperately seek approval from anyone, including his rich, alpha-type father, while Golden Glider hopes to figure out how to control her innate powers that led to a traumatic family incident. The first few episodes play out almost as if it were an anthology. However, by having that slow build-up to the larger picture, Kite Man: Hell Yeah! is able to take that time to closely develop the two characters, both together and separately. The series knows that Kite Man and Golden Glider have this compassion for one another and by putting them in such harsh circumstances, from facing a rival bar to dealing with extraterrestrial threats, they can find sympathy in that.
As such, the series reminisces upon the thematic ideas that built Harley Quinn from the ground up. The close writing shows that these characters aren’t the one-dimensional figments we got at the end of Harley Quinn‘s third season. In a way, it also plays into the idea of Peacemaker by highlighting these more complex sides of Kite Man and Golden Glider and Dean Lorey, Justin Halpern, and Patrick Schumacker have nailed that.
Kite Man: Hell Yeah! is legitimately a strong spinoff, proving that the Harley Quinn universe can definitely work with a series with heavy Peacemaker vibes. This series definitely has incredible potential to be one of DC Comics’ big successes and, given how this entire animated franchise is going, it could keep going for years to come.
Kite Man: Hell Yeah! begins streaming on Max on July 18.
