DC vetoed a Harley Quinn oral sex scene featuring Batman and Catwoman

Comic book shows know how to push boundaries, including Harley Quinn, which has more than its fair share of violence, sex, and explicit language. But one proposed scene went a little too far for the brass behind the DC Entertainment and HBO Max animated series.

In a recent interview with Variety, Harley Quinn co-creator and executive producer Justin Halpern revealed where his corporate bosses drew the line — even if he had a pretty good response to try and sway them to his side.

"It's incredibly gratifying and free to be using characters that are considered villains because you just have so much more leeway," Halpern told the magazine.

"A perfect example of that is in this third season of Harley [when] we had a moment where Batman was going down on Catwoman," he continued. "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.'"

Since Harley Quinn debuted in 2019, the show hasn't shied away from adult content, leaning into profanity, gore, and sexuality. For example, in season 2 (spoiler alert!), Harley (Kaley Cuoco) and her best friend Poison Ivy (Lake Bell) wound up in bed together. Meanwhile, Commissioner Gordon (Christopher Meloni) has discussed his anal polyps and bonded with a severed hand.

This isn't the first time Harley Quinn's producers have been shut down in a direction they wanted to go, either. They previously told EW their first take on Aquaman didn't go swimmingly.

"For our first take on Aquaman, we embraced the Momoa-ness, and he became super-bro," Halpern said. "It was one of the few times where DC was like, 'F— no, do not do this.' They were like, 'You have to treat Aquaman with more respect.' So then we were like, okay, fine. If you want Aquaman to be more regal, we'll make him a pompous douche. So we did, thinking that it would also be bad, but they were like, 'Thank you for respecting Aquaman.'"

EW has reached out to representatives for Harley Quinn for comment on Halpern's remarks.

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