Harley Quinn and the Joker are no strangers to the animated world, having appeared in cartoons including Batman: The Animated Series and Max’s Harley Quinn (which will be airing its fourth season later this month, by the way). But now the infamous DC villains will be appearing in Japanese animation as well. Yesterday at Anime Expo 2023 in LA, Warner Bros. Japan and WIT Studio announced the development of a new anime called Suicide Squad Isekai. That’s right: Harley and the Joker are about to get canonically isekai’d.
Isekai is a genre of anime in which the protagonist gets transported to a different, often fantastical, world. This means that instead of running amok in the streets of Gotham City like they usually do, Batman’s nemeses will be fighting dragons and other monsters in another dimension. While it is currently unknown which members of the Suicide Squad will be joining them, we do know from the brief trailer that the task force’s leader Amanda Waller (pictured below) will be part of the cast. Director Eri Osada appeared onstage dressed as Katana, which could suggest that this is one villain we will see in the anime. Other recurring members of the Suicide Squad include Deadshot, Captain Boomerang, King Shark, Enchantress, and Killer Croc; however, the films, comics, and TV shows often mix and match who’s on the team, so it remains to be seen who will be part of the anime version of the group.
WIT Studio has brought us some incredibly successful anime series such as Attack On Titan and Spy x Family, which both won many titles in last year’s Crunchyroll Awards. In addition, Osada was the chief animation director for Jujutsu Kaisen, while Tappei Nagatsuki and Eiji Umehara, who will be the head writers for Suicide Squad Isekai, both worked on isekai Re:ZERO. So, it looks like this new anime will be in good hands.
As of now, no release date or voice cast members have been revealed. Stay tuned for updates!