Summary
While theHarley Quinnspin-off showKite Man: Hell Yeah!was already pretty highly anticipated, the show now has one more point of appeal, and one of the show’s executive producers spoke on that recently.
Harley Quinnhas been the highlight of DC’s animated offerings for years now, having a longevity that other projects, while better made, well-loved, and generally more in line with the franchise’s ideals, simply don’t possess anymore. Over its now four-season run (with a fifth already confirmed and in production), the show has introduced fans to its wacky take on all sorts of popular and obscure DC characters, many of who have become fan favorites themselves. As such, it was widely celebrated when the powers that be revealed that theHarley Quinnspinoff starring Kite Man was moving forward at HBO Max, with several role reprisals from the original show and the addition of the legendary Lance Reddick to substitute for the equally acclaimed Giancarlo Esposito as Lex Luthor.
Unfortunately,Reddick would pass away at the age of 60 in early 2023, leaving behind a few notable projects that would become posthumous appearances, including voicing Luthor in Kite Man. Speaking toComicbookabout the upcoming series, executive producer and co-creator Dean Lorey spoke about Riddick’s upcoming posthumous performance in the show. “He was wonderful. We all loved him,” Lorey remarked. “We loved working with him, and we loved his take on Lex. Giancarlo [Esposito] was terrific, and he played Lex a little more as a businessman and all of that, which we thought was great. But what Lance brought in was more gravity to him, maybe a little bit more depth. We just so warmed to his take. Obviously, it was a giant shock to us, as it was to everybody, when he passed. But he’d, luckily, completed recording most of his episodes, so we were glad that we at least had that that we could give people. But we really loved him.”
Esposito is an icon in his own right, but he certainly has his preferences for character work. As seen in his phenomenal portrayal of Stan Edgar inThe Boys,Esposito plays the ruthlessly polite exec better than just about anyone, but Reddick’s performance could potentially have the advantage of falling in with the rst of the cast more fluidly. While fans have been looking forward toKite Man; Hell Yeah!on the strength of his appearances inHarley Quinn, the solemn appeal of Reddick’s posthumous voice role is certainly an extra incentive to give the series a go. The dearly departed actor also had live-action roles ready to go at the time of his passing, most notablyreprising hisJohn Wickrole in Ane de Armas’ spin-offBallerina, meaning that fans can also look forward to an extra helping of one of his most iconic characters one last time before the curtain finally closes on his iconic career.
While fans can still enjoyReddick’s expansive backlog of memorable rolesacross TV, film, voice acting, and even video game performances, it is cheering to know that there are still a few more roles out there that they can discover and experience for the first time as a testament to the stellar career that Reddick had. As the few live-action performances left roll out, he’ll be remembered fondly by the multitude of people that his work made happy.
Kite Man: Hell Yeah!premieres for streaming exclusively on Max on July 18th, 2024,
