Girls Rule

Girls Rule is an American animated television series. The series was created by Chris McKay for Netflix; Mckay also serve as showrunner with Sam Register and executive producer along with Dan Lin and Roy Lee. Based on parts of the Gotham City Sirens comic books, the series follows the group of Harley Quinn, Poison Ivy and Catwoman, as they survive in the criminal underworld after being kicked out of the Joker's gang. The series stars the voices of Jenny Slate, Zoë Kravitz and Riki Lindhome.

Girls Rule received a straight-to-series order in November 2018 before Netflix acquired the streaming rights and premiered on October 23, 2022 with the first season consisting of seven episodes. The series received generally positive reviews from critics, who praised the animation, voice acting, and soundtrack, but criticized it for being overstuffed plot. Immediately upon its release, the series amassed a dedicated, large, and international fanbase. In November 21, 2022, the series was renewed for a second season, with Mckay returning as showrunner.

Overview
Harley Quinn, after her break with the Joker, only has the option of living with Poyson Ivi and Catwoman, who were also kicked out of the gang. As certain events unfold, the three of them begin to strengthen a friendship and watch their backs, becoming the Gotham City Sirens.

Main

 * Jenny Slate as Harley Quinn, the Joker's ex-girlfriend. She was abandoned and expelled by the mafia after betraying them in a strange event.
 * Zoë Kravitz as Catwoman, Joker's former smuggler and hacker. She, like many other henchmen, were also kicked out of the mob. Now it is limited and stealing in the streets with a knife.
 * Riki Lindhome as Poison Ivy, an expert doctor in silver. After directly attacking the Joker, she was forced to escape and hide. Later in the season he accepts a job at STAR Labs.
 * Rosario Dawson as Barbara Gordon / Batgirl, the newly-elected police commissioner of Gotham.
 * Will Arnett as Batman, a billionaire by day and superhero by night, who defends Gotham City from crime.
 * Nolan North as Thomas Elliot, also known as Hush, he is a supervillain hoping to take down Batman due to a childhood trauma.

Recurring

 * David Hayter as Boneblaster, a new supervillain from Gotham. He gets to have a few run-ins with the girls and develops a grudge against Catwoman before she defeats him.
 * Conan O'Brien as Riddler, a Gotham City criminal mastermind, he colludes with Hush in his plan until he betrays him. He ends up in Arkham Asylium after a confrontation.
 * Will Friedle as Maxwell Burton, a STAR Labs doctor who discovers Poison Ivy by investigating hidden files. After passing some incidents, both become boyfriends.
 * Héctor Elizondo as James Gordon, the retired police commissioner of Gotham and Barbara's father.
 * Jason Liebrecht as William, a bank manager who was robbed by Harley Quinn. Later he is one of those kidnapped by Elliot.
 * Griffin Burns as Tony, a bodyguard of the Joker.
 * Fred Stoller as Harold Allnut, a genius partner of Batman's for a long time. He is manipulated with pheromones to betray Batman, then redeems himself.
 * Kate Micucci as Clayface, one of Batman's villains, he is mind-controlled by Hush and joins as one of his henchmen, before escaping.
 * Billy Dee Williams as Two-Face, he briefly appears as a controlled ally of Hush.
 * Ralph Garman as Lowery Arnet, a scientist in charge at STAR Labs and the experiments performed there. He is remote and controlling with his employees.
 * Chris Hardwick as James Olsen, a Daily Planet television reporter.

Development
On May 29, 2018, it was reported that an animated television series, based on DC Comics and Lego, was in development in Warner Bros. Pictures, with Chris Mckay credited as creator and executive producer alongside Dan Lin and Roy Lee. Mckay, who previously worked on Lego Batman, prepared a script that would become the series' pilot episode, along with a multi-draft book to help pitch the project. On November 11, 2018, it was announced that the series had been greenlit, as a 7-episode order. Sam Register joined as producer, with Mckay writing and directing all episodes for the first season. The project is a joint-venture production between Warner Animation Group and Animal Logic, who had provided the animation for the films in the franchise. In May 2019, Shane Acker joined as showrunner, directing 3 episodes of the first season.

Mckay began work on the series in late 2017 and wanted to expand the Batman character's mythology into another kind of story in the animated format. The series was originally known as Mysteries in Gotham, as the plot was to be an anthology series based on the Elseworlds. However, after deciding to change the narrative of the series to focus on a group of supervillains, Mckay felt he could now play more with character development throughout the show, something they couldn't really imagine with a standalone plot. With seven hours to explore different sides of the story, Mckay saw an opportunity to tease out the gang's friendship and adapt plot points from the original comics, as well as include several known and unknown Batman ones. To introduce the narrative, many inspirations from superhero movies of yesteryear were used as elements of the series, drawing on films such as Superman (1978) and Batman Returns (1992).

Casting
In June 2019, Jenny Slate, Zoë Kravitz and Riki Lindhome were cast in the series, returning to their roles from the films. In July, Nolan North and David Hayter were added to the cast, in undisclosed supervillain roles with Will Arnett joining in August.

Release
Girls Rule premiered on October 23, 2022 on Netflix.

Critical response
On the review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, the series holds an approval rating of 86% with an average rating of 8/10, based on 417 reviews. On Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, the series has received a score of 76 out of 100 based on 32 critic reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".