Season Review: Kite Man: Hell Yeah! Season One

Overview:

It’s not easy to be a memorable super villain, run a struggling small business, impress your withholding parents, and find love…especially when you’re trying to juggle all these things at once. This is the cross that Kite Man chooses to bear, albeit with endless enthusiasm. Classic DC Comics D-lister, Kite Man and his girlfriend, Golden Glider, find themselves running a bar that’s rich in grime, crime, but also heart, as he slings suds to the Legion of Doom and other exaggerated villains. Supervillainy blends together with mixology to become a potent comedic cocktail that builds upon Harley Quinn’s animated universe.

Our Take:

When Kite Man: Hell Yeah! was first announced under the title “Noonan’s,” audiences were curiously skeptical over whether such a show was actually needed or if it was more of the ongoing trend of popular IP brands being milked dry until there’s nothing left. “Cheers, but with DC villains,” is certainly a unique premise that could scratch a different itch in the oversaturated comic book genre and help push it to exciting, new places. In the end, Kite Man: Hell Yeah! may not be necessary, but that doesn’t mean that it’s not still a fun and entertaining animated comedy. Kite Man may not be the villain that we need, but he’s the villain that we deserve.

“You don’t need superpowers to be a supervillain,” is one of the many mission statements that Kite Man: Hell Yeah! espouses in its pilot. It’s like a macabre twist to the uplifting doctrine that’s pushed in current superhero cinema that “anyone can wear the mask,” but in this case, wearing the mask corresponds to carte blanche for petty larceny and destruction. It’d be a dangerous philosophy to bolster if Kite Man weren’t so infinitely silly and ludicrous. Make no mistake, Kite Man: Hell Yeah! is still incredibly violent, much like Harley Quinn, but it’s absolutely not a mean or evil show, despite being rampant with supervillains. If anything, it’s actually oddly optimistic and positive, much of which comes from the community that Kite Man and Golden Glider have found at their bar, Noonan’s, and their love for each other. The latter of which is palpable in every moment they’re on screen together.

Kite Man and Golden Glider’s genuine love for each other and sweet relationship is really the series’ secret weapon and strongest asset. This dynamic isn’t necessarily dissimilar to what’s fueled Harley Quinn for four seasons, but there’s still a unique energy to how Kite Man and Golden Glider support each other in contrast to Harley and Poison Ivy’s bond. It’s a tender and effective framework for each episode, yet one wonders if Kite Man: Hell Yeah! might stand out more if it embraced an entirely different dynamic than what’s going on in Harley Quinn — or even just focusing on heroes, rather than more villains. In almost every respect, Kite Man: Hell Yeah! just feels like Harley Quinn b-sides. This might be enough for some viewers — especially those who might somehow be stumbling onto Kite Man: Hell Yeah! without ever seeing Harley Quinn — but audiences may understandably be left wanting more. It’s a similar issue to what divided The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett once they both started covering the same material and eating each other’s tails.

Storytelling is paramount in a frivolous, unassuming series like Kite Man: Hell Yeah! and it effectively taps into rewarding ideas that riff on many diverse genres. The writing is reliable, yet rarely predictable. It’s very easy to get lost in the madcap chaos that fuels each episode. The central premise that kicks off the series is absolutely ridiculous and falls apart under the tiniest bit of scrutiny. That being said, this really doesn’t matter and Kite Man: Hell Yeah! asks you to look past it all in favor of heightened comic book silliness. Kite Man: Hell Yeah! adeptly juxtaposes extreme supervillainy like harnessing the Anti-Life Equation to kill Superman with low stakes slice-of-life minutiae like roof maintenance, hiring a wait staff, and business loans that plague Kite Man and Golden Glider’s new nine-to-five existence. There’s even a surprisingly clever time travel storyline that thoroughly explores the cascading consequences of butterfly effects that’s one of the season’s strongest episodes. It, like many Kite Man: Hell Yeah! entries, finds the perfect balance between imaginative and idiotic. 

A rich narrative is fundamental. That being said, Kite Man: Hell Yeah! also depends on the various characters that it includes in its unconventional menagerie. There are thousands of possibilities in a show like this that gleefully scrapes the bottom of DC’s C- and D-List character barrel and Kite Man: Hell Yeah! appropriately staffs its cast with both obscure figures and popular faces. There’s also just enough crossover with Harley Quinn cameos to make these universes feel connected, even if many of them have new voice actors behind the roles (but don’t worry, Bane hasn’t changed a bit). It’s easy to compare Kite Man: Hell Yeah!’s lovable misfits with the likes of The Tick and The Venture Bros., both of which waded in comparable territory.

Kite Man may lack the precision of these previous series and be more content to just broadly subvert DC figures. However, there’s a lot in common between these three series and it’s not impossible for Kite Man to grow as accomplished and clever as its predecessors after another season or two. All these comic book subversions are obsessed with failure and hope, only Kite Man is somehow the least angry and nihilistic of the lot, despite the presence of supervillain heavy-hitters like Lex Luthor and Darkseid. There are also rampant daddy issues galore. If nothing else, Kite Man: Hell Yeah! is comfortingly reminiscent of these two bygone superhero satires and it’s never a bad thing when something makes the audience think of The Tick and The Venture Bros. Also, neither of those series had Bane, so that’s already a step up for Kite Man.

Kite Man: Hell Yeah! is full of rich parody and playful storytelling. It’s also an animated comedy that properly takes advantage of its medium and indulges in rich, outrageous sight gags that build upon wild ideas until they snowball into true lunacy. It’s all very, very silly, yet there’s smart, impeccable writing, editing, and pacing that maximize each scene’s capacity for joke-telling. Some viewers may argue Kite Man’s merits, but few will be able to  deny its hilarity. It’s very successful at the specific comedy niche that it tackles. There’s also no shortage of grandiose action sequences that are impressively choreographed. Golden Glider also possesses Dark Phoenix-esque apocalyptic powers that can melt an entire room of enemies within minutes, which becomes a compelling source of internal conflict for the peppy protagonist.

There’s a lot of fun to be had with Kite Man: Hell Yeah!, whether viewers are Harley Quinn fans, comic book aficionados, or simply looking for a good laugh. It’s an animated comedy that takes its absurdist cast seriously, even if they struggle to do so themselves, and there’s such a satisfying emotional center to it all. Kite Man: Hell Yeah! is hardly perfect, but it’s sure to surprise audiences and stand out as one of the summer’s most entertaining comedies. Kite Man helps DC’s animated slate fly high, soar  to new creative heights, and proves that this silly spin-off isn’t just full of hot air.

Kite Man: Hell Yeah! premieres on July 18 on Max.