Men and women alike are up in arms after it was revealed that a scene showing Batman performing oral sex was cut from the adult animated HBO Max series Harley Quinn — because, according to DC Entertainment executives, ‘heroes don’t do that.’
Harley Quinn co-creator and executive producer Justin Halpern told Variety this week about the deleted scene, saying that it showed Batman ‘going down on Catwoman’ — but they were forced to nix the moment after DC told them they ‘absolutely cannot do that’ because it wasn’t something that heroes do.
Social media users have taken issue not with the fact that the scene as cut, but with the justification for it, arguing that it is definitely something that Batman would do and that of course a hero would be a generous lover.
Edited: Harley Quinn co-creator and executive producer Justin Halpern revealed the scene was cut from the adult animated series Harley Quinn on HBO Max
Gone! The moment showed Batman ‘going down on Catwoman,’ but DC Entertainment told them they ‘absolutely cannot do that’
Halpern said that one of the joys of working on Harley Quinn is that the characters are villains — so they can get away with more.
‘It’s incredibly gratifying and free to be using characters that are considered villains because you just have so much more leeway,’ he said.
But when they tried to have one of the heroes getting a bit naughty on screen, executives vetoed the idea.
‘A perfect example of that is in this third season of Harley [when] we had a moment where Batman was going down on Catwoman. And DC was like, “You can’t do that. You absolutely cannot do that,” Halpern recalled.
‘They’re like, “Heroes don’t do that.” So, we said, “Are you saying heroes are just selfish lovers?” They were like, “No, it’s that we sell consumer toys for heroes. It’s hard to sell a toy if Batman is also going down on someone.”‘
Up in arms: Social media users say their ‘respect for the character has plummeted’ and ‘heroes are the ones who AREN’T selfish lovers’
But to some Twitter users, it seemed like calling heroes selfish lovers is exactly what the executives were doing, implying that showing a man going down on a woman makes him less strong and heroic.
‘So it’s canon that batman never ate p***y in his entire womanizing life. My respect for the character has plummeted,’ tweeted one critic.
‘IF Batman is the world’s greatest detective, and it doesn’t take a detective to know that going down on your partners is really cool and good, how could Bats NOT give a little love and attention to Catwoman’s kitty? I mean liiiiiiike come on, let’s be logical here!’ wrote another.
‘Wait. Are we supposed to believe Catwoman hooks up with a guy who doesn’t eat p***y?’ tweeted a third.
‘No no @DCComics… I’m pretty sure heroes are the ones who AREN’T selfish lovers,’ one commenter insisted.
Makes no sense! Several have insisted that Batman definitely would perform oral sex
‘You’re right, DC. Heroes don’t eat p***y, legends do,’ another chimed in with a correction.
‘Heroes very much do that,’ yet another wrote succinctly.
‘Let Batman go down on Catwoman, you cowards,’ demanded another fan.
‘This is outrageous,’ said one more. ‘When they told us Batman traveled the world becoming a master of all skills I always assumed they meant *all* skills.’
‘Out of your mind if you expect me to believe Batman doesn’t eat p***y,’ another Twitter user quipped.
One, at least, thought the oral sex aversion made sense — at least for Batman.
‘To be fair, his parents got killed after eating out,’ they joked.
