My Thoughts on Kite Man: Hell Yeah! - Season 1

Where to watch: Adult Swim, StackTV (Canada)/HBO Max (U.S.)

(NOTE: This review may contain some spoilers for the first season of Kite Man: Hell Yeah!, but I'll try to avoid them. There may be a few spoilers for early seasons of parent series, Harley Quinn though!)

With Harley Quinn having recently finished airing its fifth season, and since languishing in limbo as DC Studios, Warner Bros. and HBO Max continue to contemplate the show's future, it occurs to me that I never actually commented on the fan-favourite animated comedy's recent first spin-off effort; Kite Man: Hell Yeah!, formerly titled 'Noonan's' during its development, after the super-villain bar that serves as a central set piece.

Described as, "Cheers with super-villains", Kite Man: Hell Yeah! maintains the plucky, dark horse spirit of its parent series, though swaps out Harley Quinn's feminist-flavoured girlboss vibe for a more by-the-book underdog story of lovable losers getting swept up in a larger plot, as they struggle with giving meaning and direction to their lives. This certainly echoes Harley's journey in the parent series, a former moll to arch-villain, the Joker who learned to attain agency and fame as a successful criminal. Kite Man: Hell Yeah! being a spin-off of Harley Quinn however means that it can go big right from the jump, expanding its scope beyond Gotham City, with a sizable collection of DC villain personalities that will be both familiar and new for veteran Harley Quinn viewers.

Indeed, Kite Man himself was originally a mainstay during Harley Quinn's first two seasons, whereupon he dated, and almost married, Harley's true love, Poison Ivy. Since his engagement to Ivy fell apart, Kite Man has since found new romance with another lesser-known DC villain, Golden Glider, and the two have subsequently blossomed into an undeniably dysfunctional, but nonetheless lovable and wholesome couple next door, at least, if you're a criminal.

Where Kite Man and Golden Glider tend to differ from Harley and Ivy is the fact that they're not interested in fame or global notoriety. In fact, Kite Man in particular already believes he's achieving his potential as an 'iconic' local villain (making him an outlier among his more unfulfilled buddies), somewhat delusionally. That is, until he and Golden Glider become unwitting accessories to Superman Family arch-villain, Lex Luthor's plot to steal the Anti-Life Equation, and hide it from another major Superman Family foe, the extra-dimensional warlord, Darkseid, specifically within Noonan's.

Lex Luthor's agenda for Noonan's naturally brings no shortage of trouble to Kite Man's and Golden Glider's doorstep, on top of depositing reliable Harleyverse stooge, Bane within their bar. This decisively makes Bane the biggest connective element in the 'Harleyverse', seeing as he went back to the regular cast of Harley Quinn for its subsequent fifth season this year.

Regardless, while Harley Quinn's early seasons balanced their zany storylines with a heavy focus on Gotham City and the specific Batman Family heroes and villains within its central roles, Kite Man: Hell Yeah! goes for broke right away, like I said. Its first season alone includes kaiju chickens, douche powers, villainous mass merchandisers, and a very unfortunate trip to the 1980's, among other wacky scenarios. This spin-off series even subtly sets the stage for Harley Quinn's fifth season shifting that show's central setting to Metropolis, since both of Kite Man: Hell Yeah!'s primary antagonists during Season 1 are Superman villains, not Batman villains.

The no-holds-barred comedic scope throughout Kite Man: Hell Yeah! finds a good balance through the anchoring relationship between Kite Man and Golden Glider however, who quickly form the heart of this show. Bane also contributes his own infectious footprint, being cast out of the Legion of Doom right as this show begins, thus rendering him lonely, lovesick, and just as charmingly pathetic as his supposed 'best friend', Kite Man.

Much like Harley Quinn, I don't want to give away too many details from this inaugural season's storyline, since many of its best moments rely on surprising viewers. In terms of how Kite Man: Hell Yeah! stacks up to Harley Quinn overall however, it's comparably good, ultimately being worthy of its parent series. Still, this first season of Kite Man: Hell Yeah! ultimately falls a bit shy of Harley Quinn's highlight storylines and jokes, especially during that show's outstanding first two seasons. Don't get me wrong, Kite Man: Hell Yeah! is certainly a lot of fun to watch, absolutely! I'm just not sure if it will have the same degree of surprising staying power that Harley Quinn has unexpectedly managed to achieve, long after that series' foundational DC Universe Originals initiative has been abandoned by DC and Warner Bros.

This worry on my part isn't helped by the fact that Kite Man: Hell Yeah! has also lingered in limbo, coming up to almost a whole year without a Season 2 renewal or cancellation being announced at this point! I imagine that part of this suspense is related to Harleyverse showrunner and executive producer, Dean Lorey suddenly being pulled away to oversee another DC adult animation series, Creature Commandos, the first project to be fully set within DC's and Warner Bros.' rebooted 'DCU' franchise, which will properly launch for general audiences when this July's new Superman movie hits theatres. Creature Commandos considerably taking off with critics and audiences since it premiered this past December, complete with securing a Season 2 renewal that it wasn't originally planned to accommodate, might mean that the Harleyverse could lie dormant for some time. This is of course assuming both Kite Man: Hell Yeah! and Harley Quinn aren't simply axed entirely, so Lorey can give his full, indefinite attention to Creature Commandos, and no doubt other animated projects that will inevitably be produced for the rebooted DCU in the years to come.

Considering that Kite Man: Hell Yeah! and its parent series, Harley Quinn are both 'Elseworlds' projects that don't take place within the mainline DCU, they're probably at the mercy of how far DC Studios' attention can be spread at any one time. That's nerve-racking to say the least, but Kite Man: Hell Yeah! is a series that I definitely want to see more of regardless, even if I have to wait a while for that to happen.

Despite Kite Man: Hell Yeah! swapping out several voice actors from the Harley Quinn cast as well (though Matt Oberg at least reprises his role as Kite Man, while James Adomian also continues to voice Bane), the series is just as well-performed as Harley Quinn is, and packs in an impressive comedic cast in its own right. Stephanie Hsu, Janelle James and the late Lance Reddick are the most notable replacement actors as Golden Glider, Queen of Fables and Lex Luthor, respectively, with Reddick being replaced in the role of Lex Luthor again by Amuche Chukudebelu in the final two episodes of the season, since Reddick sadly passed away before he could complete his voice work as Luthor.

This show's cast may be a bit lesser known than some of Harley Quinn's big gets, between Giancarlo Esposito, Jason Alexander, Wanda Sykes, Christopher Meloni, John Slattery, and of course, Kaley Cuoco in its title role there, but Kite Man: Hell Yeah! still brings the laughs with its own reliable crew of voice actors and comedic favourites. The series thankfully manages to avoid feeling like 'Diet Harley Quinn', and carves out enough of its own identity to tease a promising future for its misfit crew of unappreciated DC villains. The question remains however; Will that future be allowed to happen?

The core concept of, "Cheers with super-villains" definitely has room to grow, but Kite Man: Hell Yeah! has nonetheless presented an entertaining foundation with its first (and hopefully not only) ten episodes. At the very least, this spin-off's eponymous lead being largely unconcerned with his wider reputation creates its own appealing blend of laissez-faire mischief. Harley Quinn may want the world to know her name, but Kite Man? He's happy with just a dive bar that knows his name, even when larger forces will continue to ensure that he and his better half can't catch a break.

IF I HAD TO SCORE IT: 8/10