Tamal Kundu
A Justin Halpern, Patrick Schumacker, and Dean Lorey creation, Max’s ‘Harley Quinn’ is an adult animated series about the titular character, following her journey from a villainous sidekick of the Joker to a hero and member of the Bat family. Her romantic relationship with Poison Ivy also serves as an important component of the plot. Especially from season 3 onwards, Ivy experiences a rapid rise as a villain, taking her on the opposite path to that of Harley, at least professionally. Toward the end of season 3, Lex makes her the head of the Gotham branch of the Legion of Doom. In season 4 episode 4, Ivy travels to the moon to attend MalCon, hosted by Lex Luthor. There, she encounters two people who look suspiciously like animated versions of Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg. Here is everything you need to know about it. SPOILERS AHEAD.
Silent Characters: Grunting Musk and Zuckerberg Lookalikes
Supposed versions of Musk and Zuckerberg appear in season 4 episode 4 of Harley Quinn. The characters don’t speak, but they do grunt and scream. However, no one is credited for them at the end of the episode. It is probably safe to assume that Musk and Zuckerberg didn’t lend their voices to the characters apparently modeled after them.
Musk is never mentioned by name in the episode, but close caption subtitles do recognize the character for who he is. In contrast, the character resembling Zuckerberg is referenced as both Zuckerberg and Mark in the show. After Ivy arrives on the moon, she discovers that her only task there is to introduce Lex before his keynote speech. On the advice of Talia al Ghul, Ivy begins networking and impresses Steppenwolf, the very warlord and venture capitalist Lex was trying to woe. Ivy uses her powers to replace the man who looks like the Tesla CEO on a panel about ‘Corporate Greenwashing: The End of the Trend?’ with herself, drawing Steppenwolf’s attention.
The scene shifts, and Ivy is seen climbing a moon rock. The version of Zuckerberg is there as well, looking admittedly friendly. Ivy unhooks him from his harness, shouting, “Hey Zuckerberg, have fun in the Meta-verse, dweeb.” The man helplessly screams as he floats off into the space. This makes Steppenwolf, who has been golfing nearby, laugh.
Following Zuckerberg’s disappearance, people at the MalCon start looking for him and #WheresMark trends on the internet. Toward the end of the episode, Lex becomes enraged when people start crediting Ivy for his work and destroys the convention center. As people start dying, the character who looks like Musk gets into a tussle with a woman who beats him to death golf club supplied by Livewire.
As always, ‘Harley Quinn’ offers a humorous critique of today’s world. While the series caricatures Zuckerberg rather openly, no explicit clue is given about who the other character is supposed to be, except how he looks and, as mentioned above, the close captions. Even the pass the character wears around his neck has no name or QR code, unlike the others.
Read More: Harley Quinn Season 4 Episode 4 Recap and Ending, Explained
