Girls Rule

Girls Rule is an upcoming American animated television series created by Chris McKay for the streaming service HBO Max and Cartoon Network, based on the DC Comics  "Gotham City Sirens" comic books series. Produced by Warner Bros. Animation, it is intended to be part of the LEGO Extended Universe sharing continuity with the films of the franchise. Sam Register serves as executive producer along with Dan Lin and Roy Lee. It follows Harley Quinn who, after parting ways with the Joker, teams up with Catwoman and Poison Ivy as they try to thwart an evil conspiracy in Gotham City. Mckay serves as head writer.

Jenny Slate, Zoë Kravitz and Riki Lindhome reprise their roles as Harley Quinn, Catwoman and Poison Ivy from the film Lego Batman (2017) long with Rosario Dawson, Will Arnett and Nolan North also starring. Development on the series began by September 2018, with Mckay directing and writting. The series was announced in November 2019, along with the casting of Slate. Register was hired shortly after, with additional casting revealed that year. Shane Acker joined to Mckay to direct in January 2021. Animal Logic, who also produced animation for the films in the franchise, provided aesthetic animation for the series, which ended in early March 2022. Additional scenes were made in June 2022, as extra shorts after the episodes.

Girls Rule is scheduled to premiere on October 21, 2022, and will consist of seven episodes.

Premise
After the events of Lego Dimensions (2022), Harley Quinn has been kicked out of the Joker's mob and now alone in Gotham City, she must team up with Catwoman and Poison Ivy to solve a strange mystery.

Cast and characters
The Joker's ex-girlfriend. She was abandoned and expelled by the mafia. Quinn has been the Joker's companion for so long and now she feels "exhausted" and unsure of "her place in the world" after being kicked out by him in Lego Dimensions (2022). Slate said that the series would delve into Harley's future and development and allow her to "explore more than just the badass that she has" and "to find out who he was and dig into how much all affects her personal life," with Mckay took inspiration from media like Birds of Prey (2020) or his initial debut from Batman: The Animated Series (1992-95). Slate went on to say that Girls Rule allowed him to "figure out some things and figure out some new things" with it, which she hadn't had the opportunity to do in his previous outspoken appearances as a minor character. Executive producer Dan Lin added to this, noting that "the sins of her past, the actions she takes and how they affect her is a point of torment". 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. Slate described Ivy in the series as "a smart girl and not just a beauty with great powers", with Ivy acting as the "right hand" of the team; this forces her to make "many decisions, some good, some bad." A billionaire by day and superhero by night, who defends Gotham City from crime. . Arnett also voiced the character in the films of the franchise. Additionally, Fred Stoller is expected to appear as Harold Allnut, a genius partner of Batman's for a long time, David Hayter as Boneblaster, a new supervillain from Gotham while Jason Liebrecht, Kate Micucci and Billy Dee Williams have been cast in undisclosed roles.
 * Jenny Slate as Harley Quinn:
 * 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:
 * Rosario Dawson as Barbara Gordon / Batgirl, the newly-elected police commissioner of Gotham.
 * Will Arnett as Batman:
 * Nolan North As Thomas Elliot: A supervillain hoping to take down Batman due to a childhood trauma.
 * Will Friedle as Maxwell Burton: a STAR Labs doctor who discovers Poison Ivy by investigating hidden files. After passing some incidents, both become boyfriends.
 * 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.

Episodes
The series will consist of seven episodes, with Chris Mckay directing four episodes and Shane Acker directing the last three.


 * The series will consist of the 3 hours ordered in 7 chapters, and 1 final of double duration of one hour, with a 5-week event format.
 * The series will have a nightly format on HBO Max, with a premiere every Friday night simultaneously with the Cartoon Network cable channel.
 * Episodes 1 and 2 aired together as a one-time premiere special.
 * Episodes 6 and 7 will air together as a half-hour special unofficially dubbed "Battlefield."
 * The series will also include a second set of bonus short episodes announced in September 2022, which will begin airing in Easter 2023.

Development
In September 2018, Chris Mckay, director of Lego Batman (2017), stated that he was developing with Warner Bros. a "potential spin-off series that would build heavily on material in DC Comics" in association with The Lego Group. The series would be centered around the character Harley Quinn as a comedy drama, set in the LEGO Extended Universe. As of November 2018, Jenny Slate was in talks to star in the lead role, returning from previous appearances. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter she mentioned that it was time for the character to get his own movie, calling him "quite a charismatic character in movies that has yet to be fully exploited beyond small cameos." Slate was hired to reprise his role on the series, with Sam Register serving as executive producer in February 2019. Warner Bros. officially announced in April 2019 a new series titled Girls Rule, with Slate co-starring with Zoë Kravitz and Riki Lindhome as Catwoman and Poison Ivy. The series is based on the 2009-11 comic book story "Gotham City Sirens" by Paul Dini, with Register describing it as a "liennal animated series" that would tie-in with films in the franchise; The premise of the series further described it as a series of crossover events. Mckay mentioned that the series was originally known as Mysteries in Gotham, as the plot was to be an anthology series based on the Elseworlds comics. In May 2019, Shane Acker joined as showrunner, directing 3 episodes of the first season. On November 11, 2019, it was announced that the series had been greenlit, with a prokected release date of 2021 on the new Warner Bros. HBO Max streaming service. The series will consist of seven episodes of 15 to 25 minutes.

Writing
Dan Lin said the series would seek to match the range of emotionality between the characters to the Gotham City Sirens comic book story. He described Girls Rules as an emotional and friendship showcase, driving themes such as effective responsibility and familiarity, exploring elements of betrayal, paranoia and mystery, things the comic series did "which was great with the twists and turns it took". The creatives also drew inspiration from "friend travel" novels, along with contemporary television series like Sherlock (2010-2017). Mckay said that the series would serve as a continuation of the Lego Batman story and would follow directly from the in-development film Lego Dimensions (2023), which he found to be a "fun idea". He also said that the series would uncover some of the things that have not been shown in other appearances of the character Harley Quinn, such as Margot Robbie's version. Zoë Kravitz described the series as "a very grounded earthy drama" that "dealt with real human issues unnoticed and dealt with trust".

Casting
Slate was expected to reprise her role as Harley Quinn in the series with the reveal of her development in early 2019 and as production began Slate's casting was confirmed and Kravizt and Lindhome were announced as her co-stars. The search for additional voice cast for the project was opened in January 2020. David Hayter was cast as Bloneblaster, the season-opening "main villain" role, in March 2021, and the following month, Rosario Dawson was cast in her role as Barbara Gordon alongside Will Arnett as Batman from their roles in the franchise movies and Jason Liebrecht In May 2021, Will Friedle joined the cast as a newly created character, rather than one from the comics, albeit loosely based on Dr. Maxwell Burtoln from the comics who had the potential to appear in films from the franchises. Fred Stoller is set to voice Batman's underling character Harold Allnut. In February 2022, director Mckay revealed that Conan O'Brien would appear in his role as Lego Batman from The Riddler, along with the announcement of Kate Micucci and Billy Dee Williams in undisclosed roles in May 2022.

In September 2021, Héctor Elizondo, who played Commissioner James Gordon on Lego Batman stated that he was not involved in the series, after "rampant speculation" suggested that he was, given the character's prominence in DC Comics-related history. .

Production
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. Production had begun on February 1, 2020 in Canada, under the working title Night Knightmares. Production was previously expected to begin in mid-November 2019, at the same time as Lego Dimensions. The animation used was custom made to be recognizable just like the film. To improve on-screen detail and depth of field, the film's production took advantage of the latest update to its Glimpse trace renderer. Production concluded on June 25, 2021. The seven-episode first season reportedly had a production budget of nearly $65 million, while the marketing budget according to Deadline Hollywood exceeded $78 million, comparable to the budget of a blockbuster theatrical animated film.

Post-production
As of August 2021, David Burrows serve as editor. Burrows previously served as an editor on Lego Batman and worked closely with Mckay.

Music
In February 2023, Kris Bowers was revealed to be composing for the series, and was working on the score at that time.

Marketing
Footage from the series was shown at the 2022 San Diego Comic-Con and Slate and Kravizt seen on stage promoting the series. The series' first trailer debuted a day later on July 22, 2022''. Polygon 's Austen Goslin felt that the trailer was "mostly a summary of the series' plot", while Vanity Fair'' 's Anthony Breznican noted how Harley had a strong feeling of "having stopped depending on others to be herself". Tamera Jones of Collider felt that the trailer was "action-packed with explosions and intrigue, giving off more of a spy vibe than a fun paranoid mystery."

The official trailer debuted during Sunday Night Baseball on ESPN on September 18, 2022. Edidiong Mboho of Collider felt the trailer "evokes the thrill and excitement" like the first one and provided the "same sense of urgency and paranoia from the Skrull infiltration". Mboho lauded the trailer for featuring the all-star cast of the series "without giving too much away" of its plot. Dais Johnston of Inverse felt that every shot of the trailer provided a "flashy-but-gritty spy-fi story that swaps out the powers and wisecracks of past works for the ingenuity and strategy Nick Fury is known for". Sam Barsanti of A.V. Club said the trailer featured "more of the physical and psychological toll that life in general has taken on Fury".

Release
Girls Rule is expected to premiere on Cartoon Network and HBO Max in October 17, 2022 and will consist of seven episodes.