Episodes 1 and 2 Review
Kite Man: Hell Yeah!
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.
Starring: Matt Oberg as Kite Man, Stephanie Hsu as Golden Glider, James Adomian as Bane, Natasia Demetriou as Malice, Janelle James as Queen of Fables, Jonathan Banks as Noonan, Keith David as Darkseid, Michael Imperioli as Joe/Moe Dubelz, Rory Scovel as Gus the Goon, Lance Reddick as Lex Luthor, and Judith Light as Helen Villigan.
Credits: Executive producers are Dean Lorey, Justin Halpern, Patrick Shumacker, Kaley Cuoco, and Sam Register. Based on the characters from DC. Production companies, Delicious Non-Sequitur, Lorey Stories, and Yes, Norman Productions in association with Warner Bros. Animation.
Rating: TV-MA
The Harley Quinn animated series has been a hit with fans enough for the Max streaming service to greenlight a fifth season. In addition, the series also had a Valentine's Day special that premiered between season three and four. In another surprise expansion of the franchise, Kite Man of all people, was given his own spin-off series. Originally titled "Noonan's" after the bar where the series is based in, "Kite Man: Hell Yeah!" is a 10 episode workplace-comedy adult animated series. The first two episodes premiered on July 18, 2024 and continues weekly with one episode until the season finale on September 12. "Kite Man: Hell Yeah!" gets off to a surprisingly strong start and establishes the season through-line of Kite Man and his girlfriend Golden Glider becoming the new owners of Noonan's about 8 months after the events of "Harley Quinn" season four, getting inadvertently drawn into conflicts with the heavy hitters of the DC Universe, sets up a quirky cast of D-listers, other characters from the Harley Quinn series pop in - sometimes in a guest role, sometimes in a bigger role like with Bane, and establishes its own tone but retains the familiar humor and violence of its parent series.
After Kite Man suffered heartbreak and humiliation in the Harley Quinn season 2 finale "Something Borrowed, Something Green," Kite Man has had next to no appearances aside from a season 3 episode where he is in a good place and his new girlfriend Golden Glider is introduced so quite fittingly, "Kite Man: Hell Yeah!" is really the show no one knew they needed. Matt Oberg reprises the titular character and by now you should be familiar with this down on his luck yet affable D-lister supervillain. The bigger question mark is Golden Glider, who had only one brief appearance on the Harley Quinn series but was recast with a new actress for this show. The show quickly sets up Glider having a similar upbeat personality as Kite Man despite being a villain but she is prone to explosions of anger when she is slighted. Combine that with her razor sharp ice skates and a murderous astral projection power she can't control, it's a lock this show will have a high kill count – basically the Harley of this show sans a bat. The two have a similar relationship dynamic as Harley and Ivy: they're both madly in love with each other and utterly supportive of each other without question. They are that couple that constantly calls each other "babe," which does get grating as the season goes on. Like Harley and Ivy, Kite Man and Golden Glider are underdogs with a quirky crew of supporting cast trying to level up but the machinations of members of the Legion of Doom often draws them into higher stakes situations. It was a delight to start to see Kite Man start to be a supervillain (but not change that much), starting with actually trying to infiltrate the family residence to steal $10 million which oddly works out because it's the first time he really stood up to his dad in his life. The other ongoing plot of the season is Lex Luthor has hidden the Anti-Life Equation, a powerful object that can enslave the mind of everyone in the universe, in Noonan's bar for safekeeping right under Kite Man's nose. To make matters worse, the big bad of the DC Universe Darkseid is also searching for the Anti-Life Equation. The same Darkseid whose god daughter Malice is working at Noonan's.
The cast rounds out with some familiar faces from Harley Quinn like Queen of Fables and Gus the Goon. Fables hasn't been seen since season one of Harley Quinn when she seemingly met her end but turns out off-screen Kite Man saved her by placing her decapitated head in a glass jar. Janelle James succeeds Wanda Sykes in voicing Fables and does a great job in capturing the vinegar and spicy attitude of the fallen villain. Rory Scovel reprises Gus the Goon and much like Harley Quinn, he's moonlighting as a goon when he's not teaching kindergarten. New characters include conjoined twin gangsters Joe and Moe Dubelz (both voiced by Michael Imperioli), original bar owner (and sometimes medic) Sean Noonan (Jonathan Banks), and last but not least Bane. A fan-favorite, Bane gets a lot more to do after quitting the Legion of Doom to work at Noonan's - still in search for love and respect, still the butt of jokes. Malice and her cat creature Chessure round out the main cast in episode two. Serving as the hot and entitled but aloof girl everyone drools over, Malice serves as the perfect foil to Golden Glider. It also helps she's voiced by Natasia Demetriou, one of the stars of FX's vampire comedy "What We Do In The Shadows".
Within the first two episodes, four returning characters have been recast. The most striking being Lex Luthor who is now voiced by the late Lance Riddick rather than Giancarlo Esposito and Darkseid is voiced by Keith David instead of Michael Ironside. Golden Glider and Queen of Fables were also recast but their new voices aren't as glaring. Riddick's Luthor and David's Darkseid takes some getting used to but they very quickly turn in some endearing performances. Everyone at the Hall of Doom is sick of Luthor wanting to only kill Superman just like everyone at Noonan's is sick of hearing Kite Man fawn over his father, who's truly a white privilege rich jerk. The always fearsome Darkseid, just like in the Harley Quinn show, has moments of aloofness that allows of hilarity like loving Kite Man's Arnold Palmer Half and Half but calling it a Lee Trevino instead. Another strong point is the show isn't afraid of using the large swatch of characters in Harley Quinn for background cameos or guest roles but also introducing even more obscure DC characters (like Polka Dot Man, Double Dare, and one of the Body Doubles) and creating those made just for the show. While you won't see Batman, Robin, or Batgirl in the opening two episodes, it was a delight and surprise to see the debuts of Spoiler and Detective Chimp, who are now operating in Gotham City as well. Harley and Ivy make a guest appearance in the pilot offering much needed inspiration for Kite Man and Golden Glider in their journey to buy the bar for $10 million and save it from destruction at the hands of Lex Luthor. Or throwing in more Jack Kirby characters like Desaad, Malice, Chessure, and Lashina is a plus as well. And like Harley Quinn, this show doesn't hesitate to kill off the big names right off the bat. In fact, one member of the Legion of Doom gets offed in the pilot.
While the cast tends to fill the archetypes of a workplace comedy sitcom... they're supposed to. Some of the actor recasts and repetitive "babes" take some time getting used to but overall "Kite Man: Hell Yeah!" excels in well-paced episodes, a tight serial season long storyline, a balanced focus on the main cast, expands on the existing canon, and is a return to form on par with earlier seasons of "Harley Quinn" that make this humorous underdog story a must watch.
Rating: 8 out of 10