Warning! This article contains spoilers for Harley Quinn season 3.Harley Quinn co-creator Patrick Schumacker explains Batman's twist during season 3. While the Dark Knight has been a hero in the past, this season of Harley Quinn sees Batman's fall from grace through his own extreme actions. More than just an antagonist for Harley, Batman fully transitions into a villain.
During Harley Quinn season 3, Bruce Wayne/Batman has hit a low point. While struggling with his grief, he begins to plan how to bring his parents back to life. Batman kidnaps Frank the Plant, a sentient Venus flytrap. Frank has the ability to reanimate plant life, so Bruce schemes to augment that power in order to reincarnate his parents. Harley Quinn itself satirized how often Batman stories return to his origin. Not only do Batman's parents come back wrong, all the dead in Gotham City rise up and become zombies. After Batman creates a hoard of zombies, he does nothing to help solve the problem either. His own selfish actions have turned Batman into a villain in Gotham.
In TV and movies, Batman has always struggled with moral ambiguity, but none have seen Batman playing a significant role that almost destroys Gotham City. Speaking with EW, Schumacker explained Batman's heel turn. Check out his quote below:
"It was scary. It hadn't been done before, but we had always pitched the show from the beginning as 'This is Gotham City through Harley's eyes.' The representation of all of the characters, especially the heroes, is going to be construed through her prism. So Bruce/Batman was always going to be a wet blanket and he was always going to be an antagonist, but not treated like a villain. So unveiling Bruce as the actual big bad of the season was our biggest swing, and the thing I was most excited about."
After Harley Quinn discovers Batman's secret identity, she has attempted to help Bruce with his grief. Their growing connection with each other highlights that the characters are on opposite trajectories. Harley has been slowly becoming a hero throughout the run of the show and Batman is now putting Gotham citizens at risk. The season ends with Bruce being arrested for tax evasion, so he will face some consequences, just not directly for raising the dead.
Having Batman become the villain in Harley Quinn is good for both characters. Following Bruce's arrest, Harley teams up with Nightwing, Batgirl, and Robin to protect Gotham. This sets up a potentially very different season 4. Secluding Bruce away from the other heroes in Gotham means that the Bat Family doesn't have a clearly defined leader. Moving Batman into more than just an antagonistic role also makes sense for the character. Batman is constantly pushing the boundaries of what he should be doing in other movies and TV shows with little to no consequences. Harley Quinn finally shows what happens to Batman when he goes too far. While the show is known for its comedy, Harley Quinn is delivering some very interesting character arcs.
Source: EW