The Max Original adult animated series Kite-Man: Hell Yeah! debuts with two episodes July 18, 2024, followed by one new episode weekly through September 12, on Max.
Synopsis
Kite Man and Golden Glider take their relationship to the next level by opening a bar in the shadow of Lex Luthor’s Legion of Doom. Nobody said serving cold ones to the most dangerous rogues outside of Arkham Asylum would be easy, but sometimes you want to go where everybody knows your name, and how to hide a body.
Review
It’s hard to believe that 2024 will bring with it the fifth season of Harley Quinn, the break-out DC animated series which has launched the Joker’s one-time squeeze even further in to the stratosphere of pop culture. But Harley Quinn hasn’t only furthered our dedication to its lead character. The series has made household names of another character who fans can’t stop talking about. Yes, Bane, but he isn’t the one getting his own spin-off series this week…
Original Harley Quinn executive producers and showrunners, Patrick Schumacker and Justin Halpern, are launching Matt Oberg’s Kite-Man to new heights this week with the debut of Kite-Man: Hell Yeah!. The ten-episode first season launches with two episodes this week but we’ve been lucky enough to see the whole season and so here are my spoiler-free thoughts.
Across the four seasons of Harley Quinn to-date it has been fun to see Matt Oberg develop Kite-Man in to the kind of character worthy of his own shown. Ask any HarlIvy shipper and they’ll tell you they hated Kite-Man. In the first and second season his character stood in the way of Harley (Kaley Cuoco) and Ivy (Lake Bell) being together. His dude-bro-ish antics were less examples of a breakout character and more the actions of a supporting character and foil in the will-they-won’t-they relationship between the leads. But in season 3 all that changed. Oberg was able to bring nuance to Kite-Man. He went through a redemptive arc, coming to forgive being left at the alter and moving on with a new love, Golden Glider (Stephanie Hsu).
Casting off the shackles of the love-triangle has allowed Kite-Man to become a much loved character with plenty more story to tell. So we pick up with him and Glider as they start a brand new chapter of their lives alongside a brilliant ensemble cast of new and familiar faces based around Gotham’s Noonan’s Bar. The series, which was developed in a similar vein to Cheers in the DCU retains a strong sense of ensemble but, much like Harley Quinn, revolves around a core duo of Kite-Man and Glider.
Oberg and Hsu take to the spotlight brilliantly. This weeks duo of opening episodes setup their new status quo perfectly. Striking out on their own the two decide to enter in to owning Noonan’s to save it from falling in to the hands of Lex Luthor (the late Lance Reddick). It sets them up for some interesting domestic storytelling across the season whilst also giving the core cast a base from which to develop itself. Kite-Man: Hell Yeah! takes all the right cues from early seasons of Harley Quinn bouncing stories of the week against several serialised plot lines.
The chaotic nature of those early Harley Quinn episodes also spills over in to Kite-Man: Hell Yeah!. There’s more outlandish elements like gangsters Joe and Moe Dubelz (Michael Imperioli). Their status as conjoined brothers becomes the punchline to ongoing jokes throughout the season, particularly then the severed head of Queen of Fables (Janelle James) becomes part of the equation. Then there’s the recurring appearances by Darkseid (Keith David) who, despite his New God-like status, doesn’t mind grabbing a pint or two in the pub. The whole supporting cast, including former bar owner Noonan (Jonathan Banks), rival business owner Helen Villigan (Judith Light) and Gus the Goon (Rory Scovel) all round out the cast with impressive gusto in their performances.
But the secondary cast is owned by one familiar and one new face. James Adomian is legendary amongst the fandom for his Bane voice. Bringing him in as a best-friend, buddy cop-style co-conspirator was a stroke of genius for the series. Adomian is all over Kite-Man: Hell Yeah! just as he was with in Harley Quinn. But with more focus on the bar and its regulars it offers Adomian the chance for more screen time and even more laughs. Hopefully the character is able to move freely back and forth between this and the flagship show for even more of his brand of comedy. The new face making waves in the world of Kite-Man: Hell Yeah! is Malice, played by Natasha Demetriou. Styled here as a spoiled rich kid influencer who lands up working at Noonan’s so her cool friends can’t see that daddy made her get a job. Malice’s razor sharp tongue is a huge source of humour across the season.
But as much as the series is an “adult comedy” it certainly also doesn’t stray away from its fair share of character drama. Both Kite-Man and Golden Glider face personal challenges across the ten episodes which add a strong sense of character development. In a nice connection to Harley Quinn, Kite-Man needs to adjust to life in a strong and stable relationship. His own self image is questioned consistently and his low self-esteem is explored through his relationship with his father. Familial bonds are a recurring touch point across the season, becoming an analogy for the cast coming together to form their own chosen family. This also ties in neatly with Golden Glider and her relationship with her mother, something first explored in an incredible time-travel episode featuring Bane and a magical toilet. I’ll let you think on that for a moment…
After bumbling their way through a series of misadventures the regulars of Noonan’s come together for a season finale which feels suitably epic and unexpected. Tying back in to Lex’s mysterious briefcase from the first episode there’s a lot for Kite-Man and Glider to overcome to get their happy ending. It’s the kind of blockbuster story we’ve come to expect from a finale in this version of the DCU and I defy any viewer not to feel for Oberg and Hsu’s character’s as they live to fight another day.
Verdict
Kite-Man: Hell Yeah! is an outrageous extension of the Harley Quinn universe. Oberg and Hsu are a dynamite team in an ensemble of incredible (and diabolical) characters.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
