Later this month, we’ll get to watch the new spin-off straight from the animated Harley Quinn universe, about Kite-Man. Created by Justin Halpern and Patrick Schumacker Kite-Man returns in his own show Kite-Man: Hell Yeah!. Happily, his long-awaited return is bigger and funnier than expected.
Kite-Man and Golden Glider at the center of Kite Man: Hell Yeah!
In the first season premiere of Kite-Man, we learn what was happening with Kite-Man during his absence from the Harley Quinn series. Now, Chuck a.k.a. Kite-Man (Matt Oberg) is in a happy relationship with his girlfriend Lisa Snart a.k.a. Golden Glider (Stephanie Hsu)
They are in a sweet relationship where they’re both happy and supportive of each other. Chuck tries to be the best super-villain there is, and Lisa wants to show how tough and awesome she is. They love each other very much, that’s why they decide to make something out of their relationship, and decide to take a big step. Without getting into spoilers, during the first episodes, they realize there’s more to life than being a super-villain.
From this point on, we can witness how their emotional journey evolves, as they both grapple with their identities, morality and the blurring lines between heroism and villainy. Although it’s not that complicated as in Harley Quinn show. They are both rather sweet, warm and not wanting to kill people, kind of villains. They just want to be happy.
The screenwriters explore the complexity of Kite-Man’s character, allowing us to see his weaknesses, visible daddy issues, soft heart for Lisa and being just a human being, while there are superpowered people around. He even becomes friends with Bane (James Adomian), who also became a series regular in this show. That’s how different Kite-Man is in the spin-off.
Golden Glider is the sister of Leonard Snart a.k.a. Captain Cold. We see that she has powers, but they are not as powerful as they’ll be when she reaches her full potential. She’s also very humane and warm person, especially for a “villain.”
One of the standout aspects of the first episodes is the exploration of Kite-Man and Golden Glider’s past. Their evolving dynamic allows us to move past what we’ve seen so far in Harley Quinn, and focus on things we didn’t know. Although Golden Glider’s past takes center stage through most of the episodes in this season, and we see how it affects her and people around her, Kite-Man’s past is touched on as well.
Without revealing too much, their romantic relationship grows as they deal with the challenges of trying to be better for themselves, and making each other happy, while trying to be the respectable villains.
When I watched those ten episodes for the first time, I realized that Kite-Man was a very underappreciated character. In Harley Quinn, he was simply a comic gag, and Poison Ivy’s (Lake Bell) love interest for 2 seasons. Now, he is a main character of his own show, and this show, to me, is better than the last 2 seasons of Harley Quinn. Kite-Man: Hell Yeah! is much more grounded for most of the story, and it’s really funny.
The addition of new side-characters (which I’ll talk more about later) gives this universe a space to let fans experience something fresh and weird, in its unique way. We go a bit lighter on weirdness to a show that is much more approachable.
Returning characters and new supporting cast makes this show even better
One of my favorite parts of Kite-Man: Hell Yeah! is the supporting cast. They get their own moments to shine, with weird and hilarious performances from Clayface (Alan Tudyk), Frank the Plant (J.B. Smoove), who make a cameo return for certain scenes, and other regulars like Bane, Queen of Fables (Janelle James) and Joe Dubelz (Michael Imperioli).
Characters like Malice (Natasia Demetriou), Noonan (Jonathan Banks), Helen Villigan (Judith Light), Lex Luthor (Lance Reddick) and Darkseid (Keith David) make some highlight performances in the show. Each character has their scenes where they have an opportunity to show what they’re capable of, and the series does not shy away from pushing the boundaries of these characters.
One of my favorite characters is definitely Darkseid, who is a really chill dude that just wants a non-alcoholic beverage named after his favorite golfer, Lee Trevino. His appearance in the show is hilarious, and I was laughing every single time he was on the screen.
Another character I really loved was Noonan. He owns Noonan’s, which is a small bar for unknown super villains and normal people. Thanks to Jonathan Banks’ voice, he had so much personality. A know-it-all guy you can ask anything because he has contacts all around the world. The other characters were also fantastic in their own ways.
In terms of their influence on the storyline, each of the supporting characters were important in their own ways, whether for the comedic purpose, or for finishing the main quest of this season.
Kite-Man: Hell Yeah! has the potential to be something more
Kite-Man: Hell Yeah! is a fantastic series that knows it’s a parody of DC projects, but it balances perfectly between humor, weirdness, and showing the real life problems of our characters. The comedic potential of the series wasn’t wasted and the comedy in it, was well-balanced.
The show has a considerable potential to even further explore the things they established, that were weird/funny, but they don’t have to make them even weirder. They just have to keep Kite-Man: Hell Yeah! as its own thing that’s more grounded, and not do different timelines or multiverse stuff like in Harley Quinn.
Of course, we do see some references to the Harley Quinn show, but they were well explained and had a good story. Future seasons need to have more moments where our main characters are just doing simple stuff together, not necessarily thinking about ruling the world.
That all being said, as soon as this fun DC animated series drops on Max, just go and watch it!
Kite-Man: Hell Yeah! releases on Max on July 18th, with new episodes weekly. Are you excited to see the return of Kite-Man? Let us know what you think of the show on social media @mycosmiccircus!
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