One of the best casts in an HBO superhero show is also a near-perfect five-part journey. As far as the DC Extended Universe goes, the franchise was a failure, for both movie theaters and the rest of the industry. The DCEU did not succeed in earning enough box office revenue to continue, thus meaning it did not 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, this does not mean the many worlds of DC did not find success anywhere. After all, the best Arrowverse shows portrayed a DC universe many wanted to see more of, often with exceptional casts. In fact, casting is one of the few aspects DC has consistently gotten right, even when the projects these actors were part of have been underwhelming.
The upcoming projects of the DCU, for example, have some expertly cast TV shows. Lanterns will feature the likes of Kyle Chandler and Aaron Pierre, while the likes of Watchmen and Doom Patrol had similar big-name actors. Despite not always giving them projects worthy of their caliber, DC has always hired great casts. Currently, an underrated part of the DC Universe may actually outrank every single one of these in the casting department: Harley Quinn.
Harley Quinn is an animated show based on the titular character and has a stacked cast. Kaley Cuoco voices Harley, with Lake Bell her main costar as Poison Ivy. Alan Tudyk, Ron Funches, and Tony Hale round out the main cast, with this alone proving how impactful Harley Quinn‘s star power is. This is without mentioning some of the biggest names the show employs, be it from the regular supporting cast or the list of guest roles from over the years.
Some of the bigger 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, this isn’t even every one of the big names that have starred in Harley Quinn over the years, just going 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
There is a lot for DC to learn from Harley Quinn. Some of the actors cast in the show, even Kaley Cuoco herself, are not household names in the world of superhero TV. The same can be said for several other voice actors on the show, but that is not the point. Harley Quinn gave everyone an open canvas to flesh out their characters in a way that has led the show to become revered by audiences and critics alike.
There can be temptation for studios to cast the biggest on-paper names in the industry for voice roles, be it Marvel’s What If…? or Prime Video’s Invincible. Of course, this can work, but it could lead to stilted voice-acting work from on-screen actors who are not used to the former craft, or soaring budgets that negatively impact the show in other ways.
In this sense, Harley Quinn has proven that simply picking the best actors for the roles, with even Cuoco herself not being a major worldwide star, can work better. Combining this with some huge names in smaller roles and true voice-acting veterans has worked wonders for Harley Quinn. With the DC Universe only planning to include more animated storytelling, the franchise could certainly learn from this near-perfect HB show.
- Release Date
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November 29, 2019
- Network
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DC Universe, HBO Max, Max
- Showrunner
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Dean Lorey, Chrissy Pietrosh, Jessica Goldstein
- Directors
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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
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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
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Lake Bell
Poison Ivy (voice)