Fact check: Is Joker featured in Harley Quinn’s backstory in Batman: Caped Crusader? Explained

DC Studios Batman: Caped Crusader hit the Amazon streaming service on August 1, 2024. The animated series, executively produced by genre experts J.J. Abrams and Matt Reeves, impressed fans with the 2-D animation storytelling inspired from the late 1980s and early 2000s cartoons.

DC’s Batman: Caped Crusader, refreshes and builds on the footprint of 1992’s Batman: The Animated Series, which is conceptualized and brought to life by director Bruce Timm. However, Joker is not featured in Harley Quinn’s backstory in Batman: Caped Crusader.

The series starts and hooks any and all DC fans, new or old, with its amazing on-your-edge storytelling that a Batman series is known for.

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The Story of Harley Quinn in Batman: Caped Crusader

A still from Batman: Caped Crusader (Image by Prime Video)

The first time we see the character of Harley Quinn in the series is in Episode 3 titled 'Kiss of the Catwoman,' when Bruce Wayne punches a reporter for getting taunted by his family, and the court orders him to seek therapy. This is the first time we get to see psychologist and therapist Dr. Harleen Quinzel voiced by Jamie Chung.

In the series, Harley Quinn is a friend of both Barbara Gordon and Renee Montoya played by Krystal Joy Brown and Michelle C Bonilla. We know that they have a great friendship and Harleen is also attracted to Detective Renee Montoya.

Harley Quinn’s character in the series is as complicated as she's written in the comics. Being an exemplary psychologist, Harley is characterized as a high-functioning sociopath in the series. Throughout the series, we see and understand Quinn’s motivations to be good, but her actions remain morally unjustifiable and obnoxious.

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Harley’s Motivation in Season 1

In season 1 episode 5, titled 'The Stress of Her Regard,' we see Batman voiced by the very talented Hamish Linklater investigating a series of abductions of Gotham’s wealthiest and how they would surrender their entire wealth to women's shelters across Gotham.

On further investigation, as time progresses, Batman joins the dots to find that all the abducted men had only one thing in common, Dr. Harleen Quinzel as their therapist.

We later find out how Harley Quinn abducts the wealthy by using her knowledge of psychology to brainwash them to the extent that their entire motivation for living becomes Quinn’s approval and regard hence the title of the episode.

There's a more retro 1990s retro-appropriate Harley Quinn costume dawned by her in front of the men she abducted to hide her identity and also to scare them to make them obey Harley Quinn and detach Harleen Quinzel.

The episode directed by Bruce Timm shows how meticulously and in-depth the series has been researched to make sure that fans are hooked to every episode.

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Harley Quinn and The Joker A pair up for Season 2?

The end of season 1 episode 5 of Batman: Caped Crusader portrays Harley’s death when she falls to her death after the building explodes and Batman could save only Barbar Gordon. She makes a call to Detective Montoya as she stands up for their date by telling her she's out of town.

Fans can expect Harley Quinn to have a comeback in Batman: Caped Crusader Season 2 with a bigger plot. The final moments of Batman: Caped Crusader teased fans with the most crucial Batman villain The Joker for season 2. Whether fans will get to see a team-up between Joker and Harley Quinn in season 2 remains to be seen.

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Batman: Caped Crusader is streaming on Prime Video.