Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Kite Man: Hell Yeah!’ on Max, A Goofy-Bloody ‘Harley Quinn’ Spinoff Starring Cut-Rate DC Villains

The adult-animated Max Original Kite Man: Hell Yeah! debuts two of its ten episodes at once before switching to a weekly release. And if bumbling Gotham City villain Charles “Kite Man” Brown seems like a weird DC character to build a Harley Quinn spinoff around – his superpower, such as it is, is literally having a kite strapped to his back – then maybe you aren’t familiar with the off-kilter humor, deep bench of DC characters, and diabolical blasts of gore that typify the main ‘toon, which has already been renewed for a fifth season. Developed by Justin Halpern and Dean Lorey, Kite Man: Hell Yeah! features the voices of Matt Oberg, Stephanie Hsu, James Adomian, Michael Imperioli, Keith David, and the late Lance Reddick in one of his last roles.   

KITE MAN HELL YEAH!: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT? 

Opening Shot: It’s the Legion of Doom’s headquarters, where a sign outside declares “32 weeks since last total destruction.” “My fellow Legion members,” intones Reddick as Lex Luthor, “what we have in this briefcase has the power to change the universe as we know it.”

The Gist: Yeah right! The motley crew of supervillains joining Lex for this emergency meeting are tired of hearing about his plans to murder Superman. And besides, what has he shown them? A glowing briefcase? But Luthor was prepared for their lack of interest, and sends Bane (Adomian) to press Kite Man (Oberg) into service as the Hall of Doom’s new airborne protector. Kite Man is excited for the opportunity. When the leader of Gotham City’s criminal underworld hires you, even as a temp, that deserves an utterance of his signature catchphrase. “Hell yeah!”

But it’s not that simple. When he fucks up the assignment – because of course he does; his aspirations toward villainy usually lack follow-through – his mistake threatens to destroy Noonan’s, the bar where Kite Man and Golden Glider (Hsu) fell in love and the hangout for all the bad guys on the downside of that underworld life. “This place is for the dregs, the goons, the henches,” as Joe/Moe Dubelz says. (Voiced by Imperioli, Joe/Moe are the two heads of a cigar-chomping gangster type.) The only thing for Kite Man and Golden Glider to do is to save the bar by buying the dumpy place, a decision that results in the hasty heist of cash from an island stronghold and the bloody, funny firefight that follows. 

Kite Man and Golden Glider are in love, and they also love their unlikely band of D-list Gotham bad guys and the dive bar they all call home. But Lex Luthor is always up to something. He’s got his own crew of powered-up criminals. And he’s not even the only threat our antiheroes will have to face. After all, this is a cartoon universe full of weird criminal freaks, and what cartoon universe full of freaks is complete without a galactic supervillain? He’s determined to destroy the Earth. Right after a few more sips from his “Kiss My Apokolips” coffee mug.

What Shows Will It Remind You Of? Kite Man debuted on Harley Quinn, as did Golden Glider, where she was originally voiced by Cathy Ang. So keep an eye out for Harley (Kaley Cuoco) here, as well as Lake Bell as Poison Ivy, who happens to be Kite Man’s ex. But adult animation that’s as loud or lewd or as it wants to be is also having a moment right now, with series including Hazbin Hotel and Invincible, and Young Justice.   

Our Take: The animation style in Kite Man: Hell Yeah! is updated for a cleaner look, but it’s otherwise remarkably similar to the old Super Friends cartoons that featured in Saturday morning cartoon lineups from the 1970s and 80s. Which is funny in itself, because from Lex Luthor on down, the characters in Kite Man curse like crazy and spill gouts of blood at the drop of a hat. “Hell yeah!” our likable bad guy main character loves to yell, but his catchphrase is cut short by his becoming absolutely drenched in henchman blood. Other villainous friends from the bar catch strays here, too. (Skuzzy the killer bowler, we hardly knew you.) But the biggest violence-bringing wild card of Kite Man: Hell Yeah! Is Golden Glider. She is more than willing to terminate Ice Capades rivals and henchpeople alike by slicing open necks with her ice skates. But that’s not even her main superpower, which when it’s finally revealed in all its instability and volatility suggests the Necromancer from Raised by Wolves.

The gore stuff is largely played for laughs in Kite Man, as it is in Harley Quinn or even in the live-action DC world of Peacemaker. This makes sense – it’s cartoons for adults, the episodes are brief, don’t overthink it – but it makes more sense that Kite Man’s also funny on its own, away from the shock value, with the main character’s self-deprecation, Lex Luthor becoming easily infuriated with his underlings, and lots of quick little asides into backdoor bits and non sequiturs.    

Sex and Skin: Nothing in the first episode – Kite Man: Hell Yeah! is more about shocking you with stabs of violence than trying to raise your temp.

Parting Shot: “I’ve done some wack-ass shit in my life, but this is the wack-assiest!” And Golden Glider says this before her and Kite Man discover what Lex hid in their bar, or that an evil being and his minions are out to capture it, so that they can control the minds of every being in the universe. 

Sleeper Star: Early on, James Adomian steals Kite Man as a still malicious and masked-up, but wholly eccentric version of Bane. And Adomian’s voice acting riffs on Tom Hardy’s squawky and muffled take on the character, so in #banevoice you get the villain saying things like “He has no powers, he’s just got a kite! Like a Victorian child in a sailor suit!”

Most Pilot-y Line: “With this,” Lex tells his fellow Legion of Doomers, “I will destroy Superman.” Which elicits a collective groan around the evil conference room. None of these baddies believe chief baddie Lex that his latest evil-making acquisition will result in any kind of different evil outcome.

Our Call: Kite Man: Hell Yeah! is a STREAM IT, especially if you’re already versed in the brash and bloodsoaked goings-on of the Harley Quinn animated series. This is a fun, foul-mouthed send-up of the superhero genre with expressive voice acting and a gleeful murderous streak that guarantees its NSFW-ness.

Johnny Loftus (@glennganges) is an independent writer and editor living at large in Chicagoland. His work has appeared in The Village Voice, All Music Guide, Pitchfork Media, and Nicki Swift.

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