Patrick Schumaker, an executive producer on Harley Quinn, explains how the animated series got a cameo from The Suicide Squad director James Gunn.
A Harley Quinn executive producer revealed how Season 3 secured a surprising cameo from James Gunn, director of The Suicide Squad.
“We knew he was a fan of the show. He had sort of just, out of the blue, been tweeting about the show, clips, or just thoughts on it — all very positive,” EP Patrick Schumaker told Insider. So when Season 3 plans involved a “prestige awards-worthy biopic of Thomas Wayne” the creative team knew they needed someone to play its director. “We thought of James because, I think it’s fair to say, he makes big-budget popcorn movies that are not this. But now this is his transition into… Now he’s in his Scorsese period and he’s making something a little bit more serious.”
Neither Schumaker nor Justin Halpern, another executive producer on Harley Quinn, knew Gunn personally, but they realized he liked the show; Schumaker and Gunn just happened to be mutuals on Twitter. “I just DM’ed him,” Schumaker said. “Never thinking I would get an answer.” But Gunn replied immediately and enthusiastically. “[He] was like, ‘I’m in. Let’s do this. Here’s my rep’s info. Let’s make it happen,’ and then like, within a few weeks, I got to voice direct him.”
Gunn even managed to fit in the remote recording session around shooting of his own DC series Peacemaker, a spin-off of 2021’s The Suicide Squad. The recording session was apparently “a blast,” with Gunn being “a good sport” about meta jokes relating to Marvel Studios, which is set to release Gunn’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 on May 23, 2023. “I think he’s proud of it ’cause he’s changed his Twitter avatar to his Harley cartoon self,” Schumaker joked, adding that they would love to have him back if they get a fourth season. “It would be great.”
Gunn worked with a version of Harley Quinn before, when Margot Robbie reprised her role as the DC Extended Universe’s antihero in The Suicide Squad, a soft reboot of 2016’s Suicide Squad. The beloved director is a big fan of the character, as he’s previously mentioned he would love to direct a Harley Quinn solo film and argued that she’s as iconic as DC’s main trinity.
Harley Quinn Season 3 stars Kaley Cuoco, Lake Bell, Alan Tudyk, J.B. Smoove, Ron Funches, and Christopher Meloni. Diedrich Bader and Sanaa Lathan are set to return as Batman and Catwoman, and other guest stars confirmed so far include Billy-Bob Thornton as himself and What We Do In The Shadows star Harvey Guillén as Nightwing.
The first three episodes of Harley Quinn Season 3 are currently streaming on HBO Max.
Source: Insider