Warning: This article contains SPOILERS for Harley Quinn season 3, episode 2.
Content Warning: The following article contains discussions of sexual violence.
An episode of Harley Quinn season 3 simultaneously introduced the character of Dick Grayson and confirmed that the events of a terrible Nightwing story from the comics involving the vigilante Tarantula also took place within the show's continuity. The HBO Max show is notorious for its dark humor and for making deep cuts into the lore of DC Comics. Despite this, it was still surprising to see the show reference one of the most infamous Nightwing storylines of all time, although it wisely did not attempt to mine that story for humor.
Harley Quinn season 3, episode 2, "There's No Ivy In Team," found the first Robin, Dick Grayson, returning to Gotham City after several years away. The Protector of Blüdhaven claimed to have done this to help his mentor with cleaning up his city, as things in Gotham were even worse than usual following the events of the Harley Quinn season 2 ending. However, it was revealed that Nightwing had an ulterior motive for his homecoming, after he had an emotional breakdown while trapped in a deadly escape room with Poison Ivy. Nightwing privately confessed that he "let Tarantula kill Blockbuster" and that he came home because he was afraid he couldn't cut it as a superhero without Batman's help.
This was a direct reference to 2004's Nightwing #93 by Devin Grayson, Patrick Zircher and Andy Owens, which closed out a long-running storyline. Curiously, this reference to the villain Tarantula was changed from the Harley Quinn season 3, episode 2 screeners released to the press before the season. The episode released on HBO Max has Nightwing saying he "let Vigilante kill Blockbuster," but the closed captioning for the episode still mentions Tarantula. Given the controversial nature of Nightwing #93 and Tarantula, it makes sense that the showrunners and DC Comics might have thought better of a direct reference. However, with Harley Quinn season 3, episode 2 still making reference to the death of Blockbuster, Nightwing still can't escape his worst story from the original Nightwing comics.
Why Nightwing's Tarantula Story Is His Worst (& Why Harley Quinn Changed The Reference)
The issues leading up to Nightwing #93 found Dick Grayson's life slowly being dismantled by the crime boss Blockbuster. Tarantula was a rival vigilante who helped Blockbuster because Nightwing tried to have her arrested for the murders she committed as part of her own violent war on crime. However, when Tarantula learned that her beloved brother was being blackmailed into working for Blockbuster, she took matters into her own hands and killed the crime boss while an emotionally and physically exhausted Nightwing watched helplessly. Left in a state of shock by what he had seen, it took Nightwing several issues to realize that Tarantula had raped him after murdering Blockbuster.
The Nightwing storyline drew criticism for multiple reasons, ranging from how derivative the story seemed of Daredevil: Born Again to the casual use of sexual assault for shock value. The reaction was so negative that the run containing it remains one of the few on the monthly Nightwing comic not to be collected in trade-paperback format. Given that, it's easy to see why all reference to Tarantula was removed from the audio track, if not the closed captioning. It is shocking that Nightwing in Harley Quinn season 3 would reference such a regrettable storyline, but it is even more surprising that the comedic animated series treats the subject of Dick Grayson's trauma with far more respect and delicacy than the original comics.
Harley Quinn season 3 airs Thursdays on HBO Max.