At the start of the week, Variety published an interview with Justin Halpern and Patrick Schumacker, two of the co-creators and executive producers of the Harley Quinn adult animated series, in which the duo revealed that a sex scene between Batman and Catwoman proposed to appear in Season 3 had been nixed by DC. Excerpts from the interview have since gone viral, with plenty of discussion swirling around the topic and remarks coming from comic book writers, artists, and other creatives alike. Batman Forever’s Dark Knight Val Kilmer decided to personally weigh in, while Batman v. Superman director Zack Snyder offered an appropriate conclusion to the debate.
Kilmer used his Twitter account to publish a gif from Batman Forever in which Nicole Kidman’s Dr. Chase Meridian tries to seduce the Dark Knight. The caption “Does he or doesn’t he…?” directly refers to DC’s official justification for cutting the NSFW Bat/Cat scene on Harley Quinn, as the comic book giant's claim, according to Halpern, was "heroes don’t do that." If that’s really true, it’s no wonder that relationships with superheroes usually don’t last.
Snyder was less subtle, publishing a NSFW image of the Dark Knight on Twitter in which Catwoman is very pleased to know that Batman is, indeed, a generous lover. With the caption “Canon," Snyder seemingly wants to give the final word on the subject by introducing the censored scene in Batman’s official universe.
In the viral Variety interview, Halpern underlined how DC is usually supportive of Harley Quinn, allowing the team a lot of creative freedom. However, Halpern’s description of why the scene was cut made a lot of fans wonder why would DC think of a normal sexual practice as an unheroic act, especially in an adult animated series that has no lack of sexual innuendo. As Halpern explained:
“In this third season of Harley Quinn,we had a moment where Batman was going down on Catwoman. And DC was like, ‘You can’t do that. You absolutely cannot do that.’ They’re like, ‘Heroes don’t do that.’ So, we said, ‘Are you saying heroes are just selfish lovers?’ They were like, ‘No, it’s that we sell consumer toys for heroes. It’s hard to sell a toy if Batman is also going down on someone.’”
No official statement has been released since the interview went viral, and even if some fans have already created a “Let the Bat eat the Cat” petition, we don’t know if DC will reverse their decision. We’ll find out when Harley Quinn’s Season 3 finally becomes available, although an official premiere date has yet to be announced.