Harley Quinn Avoids the Bad Omens at HBO Max, Is Renewed for Season 4

Harley Quinn, the animated supervillain show that has earned a fiercely loyal following throughout its first three seasons, has been announced as renewed for Season 4, ahead of its September 15th Season 3 finale.

While it would have been a deeply unpleasant surprise to learn that Harley Quinn wasn't going to continue, the atmosphere around the newly merged Warner Bros. Discovery media empire as of late has been one of uncertainty, especially when it comes to animated series and superhero properties. Caped Crusader, the reimagining of Batman: The Animated Series was announced as not moving ahead with HBO Max earlier this month (although the show, with executive producers Matt Reeves and JJ Abrams, is seeking a home elsewhere). And of course notoriously the Batgirl movie was shelved in early August, kicking off this entire period of dread.

With so much uncertainty in the air, fans of shows with fervent fanbases that could be described as "cult hits" were feeling the familiar pangs of doom that often come with being fans of cult hits, especially ones with queer themes frontloaded (ask any fan of The Other Two how they're feeling about that show's absence from the HBO supertrailer they released before House of the Dragon and you'll see the face of anxiety). So while a Harley Quinn renewal seemed like a no-brainer from a creative standpoint — the show has really hit its stride both comedically and with the queer storyline at its center, with Harley (voiced by Kaley Cuoco) and Poison Ivy (Lake Bell) finally pulling the trigger on a long-teased romance at the end of Season 2 — there's still cause for relieved celebration today.

Along with a fourth season, Harley Quinn will also have a new showrunner, although that doesn't seem like a sign of turmoil considering the show promoted consulting producer Sarah Peters now that former showrunners Justin Halpern and Patrick Schumacker are off running Abbott Elementary at ABC. In a statement, Halpern and Schumacker said, "We are ecstatic that HBO Max wants the story of Harley and Ivy to continue. And we are equally thrilled that this next season will be in great hands with Sarah Peters as our showrunner and Ceci Aranovich overseeing animation production, as they have both greatly influenced the show with their brilliance since the beginning.”

Joe Reid is the senior writer at Primetimer and co-host of the This Had Oscar Buzz podcast. His work has appeared in Decider, NPR, HuffPost, The Atlantic, Slate, Polygon, Vanity Fair, Vulture, The A.V. Club and more.