The adult animated series Harley Quinn is a boundary pushing show, taking popular DC characters in the Batman universe and having them swear up a storm, murder people with plenty of gore and involve them in plenty of sexual moments.
Except for one particular sexual moment.
Fans were stunned and highly amused when co-creator Justin Halpern recounted a storyline involving Batman performing cunnilingus on Catwoman was cut after DC explicitly refused to let Batman perform oral sex on a woman.
The reason they gave?
"Heroes don't do that."
DC asked the #HarleyQuinn team to remove a scene from Season 3 in which Batman performs oral sex on Catwoman. Why? "Heroes don't do that" \n@justin_halpern @PMSchumacker \n\nhttps://variety.com/2021/tv/features/subverting-superhero-tv-wandavision-harley-quinn-umbrella-academy-1234992069/\u00a0\u2026pic.twitter.com/jMOC2J6H22— Joe Otterson (@Joe Otterson) 1623692760
These ladies were allowed to sing an entire number about how huge Batman\u2019s dick was in a kids\u2019 show, but heaven forbid Batman lower himself to going down on one of them in an adult cartoon.pic.twitter.com/NsR7fRUt9k— LittleKuriboh (@LittleKuriboh) 1623862008
If you guys are disappointed by the Batman news then you\u2019ll love my new comic book hero PussyLickMan. He has no powers and all he does is munch box as the city burns. Pretend I tweeted this 3 days ago— kylie brakeman (@kylie brakeman) 1623858114
#batman Best meme to come from the Batman/Catwoman scandal....pic.twitter.com/dOFB3aywGN— kindofanAnomaly (@kindofanAnomaly) 1623747203
The recent news story that Batman is not allowed to go down on Catwoman has led me to discover this delightful story of Adam West (The 1960s Batman) and Frank Gorshin getting kicked out of a Hollywood orgy because they wouldn\u2019t break characterpic.twitter.com/XfjO44KDG7— Amanda Wong \u738b\u6167\u5a77 (@Amanda Wong \u738b\u6167\u5a77) 1623706026
DC didn't give a concrete reason for why heroes would not perform cunnilingus, except it was "hard to sell a toy if Batman is also going down on someone."
As for the other characters, Halpern said there was more "leeway" with villain characters, as DC didn't necessarily care about their greater image.
what if catwoman pegged batman instead— jourdain searles (@jourdain searles) 1623721687
See, even Mario does it! #Batman #Catwomanpic.twitter.com/YE3QWoGvQh— Miffy96 (@Miffy96) 1623720724
When Batman spends 4 hours fighting the Joker but only a few minutes disappointing Catwomanpic.twitter.com/ARuRM9i2Oh— Jeff without a G (@Jeff without a G) 1623778519
DC: \u201cBATMAN DOESN\u2019T DO THAT!\u201d \n\nBatman every time he \u201cteams up\u201d with Catwoman:pic.twitter.com/irGOPqsXtK— The Kang of Thicc Mamas (BLACK LIVES MATTER) (@The Kang of Thicc Mamas (BLACK LIVES MATTER)) 1623856797
I think it says something about our culture where DC Comics and Warner Brothers won't allow Batman to eat Catwoman out in a sex scene on the Harley Quinn adult animated show because "we sell action figures to kids" but Batman being a murderer in the live action movies is ok.— Andrew Gilkison (@Andrew Gilkison) 1623694492
The jokes and memes are rolling in from Twitter, as this may be one of the more ridiculous developments to come out of the superhero universe in quite some time.
Batman/Catwoman/Harley Quinn problem fixed.pic.twitter.com/OiKgX61Oso— Giovanni Campea (@Giovanni Campea) 1623812927
Batman proposed to CATwoman... you know he eating.pic.twitter.com/jO3SUjqwPL— The Best Show in the Omniverse (@The Best Show in the Omniverse) 1623703062
Joker: \u201cAnd where is the Batman?!\u201d\n\nCatwoman: \u201cI can tell you where he\u2019s not.\u201d— Eric Goldman (@Eric Goldman) 1623721366
Gotham ladies feeling blue because Batman won't eat, call Batwoman.— Denimcatfish \ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\ud83c\udf08 (@Denimcatfish \ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\ud83c\udf08) 1623722726
Is this one more reason Marvel is beating DC at the box office?
Only The Avengers know for sure.