

In contrast with the movies, which generally give us a very serious and stark take on the Joker, Batman: The Animated Series embraced his more goofy side while making an effective manic and sinister villain. Kite Man is an example in Harley Quinn, but this has been true from the beginning. The universe doesn't shy away from things that seem too goofy, instead embracing them.

The two Justice League shows and Young Justice are often an anthology of different superheroes who all have distinct identities despite residing in the same universe. The DCAU is similarly broad, even in its team-up series. The MCU has begun to fill out its live action TV roster in a similar way, adding more and more characters who offer different perspectives on the larger universe.

All of these shows offer very different things and very different characters. You have a raunchy comedic satire of superheroes and supervillains in the HBO Max series Harley Quinn. Justice League Dark and the John Constantine-focused movies are housed in the darker side of the magic in the DC universe. Shows like Young Justice and Teen Titans offer the perspective of plucky teenage characters. The Batman's Harley, on the other hand, had a mask with blank white eyes not unlike Batman himself, underlining the fact that she was a little less lovestruck than her previous incarnation.If you look at the DC characters who get movies and TV shows, you can see how they offer very different characters to watch. The original BTAS model sheets had allowed Harley's mask to emphasize her expressions, and her big, visible eyes were a nice visual cue that she was a sympathetic character. The other major difference? Harley's traditional domino mask. It's got the same color-blocked style and floppy collar of the original suit, with the black swapped out for a deep red, and a slightly more voluminous hat. Visually, the costume on The Batman is pretty similar to her original Bruce Timm design, just translated into the more exaggerated Jeff Matsuda style that made The Batman so distinct from its predecessor.

When her show is cancelled after an ill-fated on-air ambush of Bruce Wayne, she ends up joining up with the Joker, and the rest is criminal history. Just, you know, slightly more supervillainous. Rather than being the Joker's therapist at Arkham Asylum, writer Paul Dini reintroduced her in 2007 as a daytime talk show host in the vein of Dr. This time around, Harley's origin was a little different.
