The summer has been a whirlwind of unforeseen activity at HBO Max, with the Warner Bros Discovery merger causing the cancellation and exodus of the streaming services past, current and future projects. With Batgirl and more DC projects faring horribly in the aftermath, fans of Kaley Cuoco’s Harley Quinn expressed manic concerns and light threats over the hilariously profane and endearing animated hit possibly facing a similar outcome. Thankfully, we now know that won’t be the case at all — at least for now — as HBO Max announced Harley Quinn was renewed for Season 4. And Cuoco gave all those worried fans a jubilant elbow in the ribs while sharing and celebrating the news.
The WB Discovery-owned streaming service no doubt made a smart move by revealing Harley Quinn’s Season 4 renewal two weeks ahead of the Season 3 finale, which allows viewers to go into the end of the season without stressing over any potential cliffhangers going unresolved. Kaley Cuoco thinks such stress was pretty needless though, and amusingly chided fans who believed Harley and Ivy were ever the ones in danger. Here’s how the Big Bang Theory vet put it in her Instagram post:
HBO Max, which is currently running one of the best discount promotions in its existence so far, probably could withstand going a few months without anything wreaking havoc, beautiful or otherwise. But fictional havoc is no doubt better than whatever real-world fan-fueled chaos would go down if Harley Quinn got sent to Arkham Asylum’s cancellation wing. Even if Kaley Cuoco is comfortable feeling so confident about the show’s future, it’s hard out here for fans of animated streaming series.
Something to note is that while Kaley Cuoco and other cast members appear to be locked in place for new episodes to come, there will be a big change behind the scenes. Patrick Schumacker and Justin Halpern, who have served as the creators and showrunners for Harley Quinn's first three seasons, will be stepping back from the latter role, with writer and consulting producer Sarah Peters being promoted to showrunner status for Season 4 and potentially beyond. Peters has also worked on such modern comedy favorites as Nathan for You, Workaholics and Master of None.
Patrick Schumacker and Justin Halpern shared their thoughts in the statement below, while also giving a shout out to another talent on the creative team.
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.
Harley Quinn drops new episodes for HBO Max subscribers every Thursday, with three episodes left to go in Season 3. While waiting to see where things go next for this mostly villainous ensemble, head to our 2022 TV premiere schedule for a look at everything on the way once Harley’s dreaded between-season hiatus begins.
