Lewis is one of Screen Rant’s lead writers and has been writing for the site since 2022. This has allowed Lewis to explore a vast range of films, TV shows, books, comics, and games from the traditional world of pop culture, reflecting his lifelong love of all media and characterizing his experience in the world of fictional storytelling. To top it all off, Lewis graduated from Northumbria University with first class honors in Film and Television Studies, truly exemplifying his experience in the industry.
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One of the best casts in an HBO superhero show is also a near-perfect five-part journey. Regarding the DC Extended Universe goes, the franchise was a failure, both for cinemas and for the rest of the industry. The DCEU failed to generate enough box office revenue to continue, meaning it didn’t make a big enough impact to have big-budget small-screen stories akin to those in the MCU or those planned in James Gunn’s rebooted DCU.
That said, that’s not to say that DC’s many worlds haven’t found success anywhere. After all, the best Arrowverse shows depicts a DC Universe that many wanted to see more of, often with exceptional casting. In fact, casting is one of the few aspects that DC has always been successful at, even when the projects these actors were a part of have been disappointing.
THE DCU’s upcoming projectsfor example, offer TV shows broadcast by experts. Lanterns will feature Kyle Chandler and Aaron Pierre, while artists like Guardians And Cursed Patrol had similar big-name actors. Even if it doesn’t always offer them projects worthy of their caliber, DC has always hired excellent actors. Currently, an underrated part of the DC Universe might actually surpass all of them in the casting department: Harley Quinn.
Harley Quinn is an animated show based on the main character and has a stacked cast. Kaley Cuoco plays Harley, with Lake Bell co-starring as Poison Ivy. Alan Tudyk, Ron Funches and Tony Hale round out the main cast, which alone proves how Harley QuinnStar power is. That’s not to mention some of the biggest names the show has employed, whether it’s the regular supporting cast or the roster of guest roles over the years.
Some of the biggest names in Harley Quinn include Giancarlo Esposito, Stephen Fry, Tom Hollander, Michael Ironside, Rahul Kohli, Phil LaMarr, Alfred Molina, Wendell Pierce, Wanda Sykes, Jacob Tremblay, Jameela Jamil and Tyler James Williams. Somehow, these aren’t even all the big names that starred in Harley Quinn over the years, it just goes to show how the near-perfect series has one of the best casts in an HBO Max DC project.
The future of the DCU can learn from the Harley Quinn show
DC has a lot to learn Harley Quinn. Some of the actors on the show, even Kaley Cuoco herself, aren’t household names in the world of superhero television. The same can be said for several other voice actors in the series, but that’s not the point. Harley Quinn gave everyone an open canvas to flesh out their characters in a way that led the series to be revered by audiences and critics alike.
Studios may be tempted to recruit the biggest names on paper in the industry for voice roles, whether it’s Marvel’s. What if…? or Prime Video Invincible. Sure, it can work, but it could lead to stilted voice acting work from on-screen actors who aren’t used to the old craft, or increased budgets that would negatively impact the series in other ways.
In this sense, Harley Quinn proved that simply casting the best actors for roles, even if Cuoco herself isn’t a major global star, can work better. Combining that with big names in smaller roles and true voice acting veterans has done wonders for Harley Quinn. With the DC Universe only planning to include more animated storytelling, the franchise could definitely learn from this near-perfect HB show.
- Release date
- November 29, 2019
- Network
- DC Universe, HBO Max, Max
- Showrunner
- Dean Lorey, Chrissy Pietrosh, Jessica Goldstein
- Directors
- Juan Jose Meza-Leon, Vinton Heuck, Joonki Park, Cecilia Aranovich, Ben Jones, Colin Heck, Tom De Rosier, Brandon McKinney, Frank Marino, Mike Milo, Matt Garofalo, Christina Sotta, Michael Moloney
- Writers
- Tom Hyndman, Sarah Nevada Smith, Jamiesen Borak, Ava Tramer, Connie Shin, Jess Dweck, Jane Becker, Laura Moran, Sabrina Jalees, Jordan Weiss, Jimmy Mosqueda, Rachel Pegram
Cast
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Bell Lake
Poison Ivy (voice)
- Franchise(s)
- DC Universe
- Creator(s)
- Dean Lorey, Patrick Schumacker, Justin Halpern