“Harley Quinn” Gets It’s Catwoman

And it could be seen as a controversial move by some.

The DC Universe App’s next original animated series after Young Justice: Outsiders (the latter of which returns in a couple of weeks with new episodes) called Harley Quinn is continuing to build up an impressive cast ahead of it’s expected fall 2019 premiere. Not only do we have Kaley Cuoco in the show’s starring role, but now we can announce that Sanaa Lathan (Alien vs Predator/The Cleveland Show) has joined the cast as “Catwoman”.

Lathan joins Lake Bell who voices the role as Harley’s new love interest after she dumps the Joker (voiced by Alan Tudyk), “Poison Ivy”, with Diedrich Bader as “The Batman”, Tony Hale as “Dr. Psycho”, Christopher Meloni as “Commissioner Gordon”, and Rahul Kohli as “Scarecrow”. Other voices announced include Jason Alexander, Ron Funches, Wanda Sykes, Natalie Morales, Jim Rash, Giancarlo Esposito, and JB Smoove all in undisclosed roles.

Quinn is expected to join the Legion of Doom in an attempt to be the new “Queenpin” of Gotham. The series is written and executive produced by Justin Halpern, Patrick Schumacker, and Dean Lorey.

Our Take

Lathan’s casting makes Harley Quinn one of the most ethnically diverse and inclusive cast in all of adult animation. For example, it will be interesting to see if this casting leads to an African-American “Catwoman”, the first since Haley Berry’s terrible Catwoman live-action film that released about a decade ago. Another notable point is Indian actor Rahul Kohli as Scarecrow, a popular rogue villain typically portrayed as white and usually is voiced as such.  Unfortunately, there is bound to be some controversy had from the same type of comic book fans who have trashed efforts like Captain Marvel, Wonder Woman, and others in the past for using female leads or minority actors in casts, but a good cast is a good cast and everyone should be super doped up for this streaming release. We’ll see if this can be the show that saves the DC Universe app which is quickly faltering.