For all the upcoming DC TV shows that have my rapt attention, with Lanterns’ light in particular hopefully guiding us to some bright days. But still no word regarding the future for one of DC’s most consistently enjoyable original series to date, HBO Max’s Harley Quinn, which wrapped its fifth season back in March 2025 without any publicized plans for Season 6 popping up on the 2026 TV schedule. It’s a pop culture travesty, I say, but one that could be lessened thanks to potential spinoff news.
February brought Kaley Cuoco’s most recent Season 6 update, which was little more than a “We’re up for it if the studio is,” but four months later, co-showrunner Dean Lorey revealed that he and writer Chris Marrs crafted what I’ll just assume is an amazing pilot script for a potential spinoff centering on everyone’s favorite hulking, venom-addicted monster-man: Bane.
Lorey initially shared the Bane-tastic news on Instagram in mid-June, posting a shot of the title page of the script, which was penned back in 2024, as well as the following message:
Anyone up for a BANE spin-off in the animated HARLEY QUINN universe? I love Bane! He’s my favorite character. Chris Marrs and I wrote a pilot script a while back and (with all the humbleness and modesty I can muster) it’s hilarious and the studio loved it. Maybe it will see the light of day sometime? Until then, I have a tiny treat coming your way soon to tide you over…
Nothing about Bane is tiny, to be sure, but I feel like I can say with authority that everything about Bane IS a treat. And he's also probably my favorite character in the HQ-verse, at least beyond Harley herself, as Cuoco's take is probably my favorite of the character's many on-screen versions, other than the late, great Arleen Sorkin's OG work on Batman: The Animated Series.
Dean Lorey was also a showrunner for the animated series' first spinoff, Kite-Man, for which Marrs served as a writer, so if anyone would be able to get this Bane series going at Warner Bros., he's got some of the best chances. The fact that "the studio loved it" can only be a good thing, although it's unclear when that presentation was made, and if anything else has been spoken about it in the meantime.
Speaking of speaking, as it were, Loren shared a NEW update a week after the initial spinoff post, which features the always amazing comedian James Adomian back in character as the Batman rogue. Check it out below!
A post shared by Dean Lorey (@deanlorey)
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I doubt if this is the kind of thing where writing to congress-people and local representatives will have much of an impact on whether HBO Max execs decide to further spread its DC animation wings for a standalone Bane series, but I dare say it wouldn't hurt.
This part of Dean Lorey's message has me quite hyped up, as it halfway implies that there was enough goodwill and positivity from the previous one to justify taking this next step. As he put it:
He’s not animated (yet!) but I hope you like and join us in wishing the Harley Quinn BANE spinoff a life beyond this tiny taste!
"Yet" is the word of the day, people. So tell everyone you know to tell everyone they know to start clamoring for HBO Max to order up a Bane-centric spinoff. Not that I even know what this show could be about, or whether it should stick to the normal beats or if it should go in completely different directions to lean into the character's family life and non-villainous duties.
Whatever the case, all five seasons of Harley Quinn, and the lone season of Kite-Man, can be streamed in full via HBO Max subscription.
