DCs Harley Quinn: A Very Problematic Valentine’s Day Special extends its meta-winking fun all the way to Abbot Elementary School, as Quinta Brunson and Tyler James Williams have been announced as the voices of Hawkgirl and Hawkman in the special. Brunson and James will reportedly only have a “brief cameo” where Hawkgirl and Hawkman explain how they fell in love.

“Like a Harley Quinn fan, I love lending my voice to the special and collaborating with my Abbot Elementary School creative partners, Justin Halpern and Patrick Schumacker and co-star Tyler James Williams for this fun episode,” Brunson said in a statement.

As Brunson pointed out, Justin Halpern and Patrick Shcumacker are the team that executive produces Abbott Elementary and “developed” the Harley Quinn animated series, meaning they’re behind two of the more successful TV/streaming comedy series. Abbott Elementary just won three 2023 Golden Globes Awards, with Bruson and Williams winning both for “Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series – Musical or Comedy” and “Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Musical Comedy or Drama Television Series “, respectively. Abbott also won the Golden Globe for “Best Television Series – Musical or Comedy”. Harley Quinn beat all expectations of the Warner Bros. Discovery merger and became one of the few DC TV properties to get another season renewal.

Tyler James Williams said that “Harley Quinn is such a brilliant series and it’s an honor to lend my voice to this special. I think the cameo is a bit of both Abbot Elementary School and DC fans will enjoy.”

As Williams points out, the real sly meta-joke with this casting has to do with the characters Brunson and Williams play in Abbott Elementary. The series is an Office-style mockumentary about an inner-city Philadelphia public school; Brunson’s idealistic teacher Janine Teagues and Williams’ reluctant substitute teacher Gregory Eddie are the show’s “Jim and Pam” – in a romantic storyline that remains largely unsolved. So the fact that Harley Quinn will ship the two actors ahead of Abbott will be a journey for fans of the show to see and hear about.

Harley Quinn stars Kaley Cuoco as Harley Quinn and Lake Bell as Poison Ivy. Additional voice work is done by Alan Tudyk, Matt Oberg, James Wolk, Natalie Morales, Chris Diamantopoulos, James Adomian, Jim Rash, Vanessa Marshall, Janet Varney, Rachel Dratch, Leila Birch, Josh Helman, Casey Wilson, Michael Ironside and others.

Harley Quinn: A Very Problematic Valentine’s Day Special begins streaming on HBO Max on February 9.

Source: deadline