Harley Quinn on HBO Max just made a direct (NSFW) reference to the famous line from Vision, "What is grief, without love persevering?" from WandaVision.
In 2019, Harley Quinn premiered on DC Universe before being transitioned to HBO Max for Season 3. The TV-MA series has been popular since it began streaming, standing out amongst other DC animated shows for knowing its adult audience and not holding back.
The series won 'Best Animated Show' at the 2023 Critics Choice Television Awards and the second and third seasons have a 100% critic rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
After concluding its third season in September 2022, Harley Quinn returned for a 44-minute Valentine's Day Special, featuring plenty of romance and catastrophe.
Harley Quinn Makes Naughty WandaVision Reference
During Harley Quinn's A Very Problematic Valentine's Day Special a direct reference to WandaVision was made between Batman villains Bane and Clay Face.
In the special, a massively-sized Bane is on a hormone-filled rampage over Gotham City. Harley devises a plan to get Clay Face to shape-shift into a giant-sized Brett Goldstein to calm Bane down.
Clay Face, as Brett Goldstein speaks calmly to Bane, saying "What is horny without love persevering?" which Bane confusingly responds to with, "Ah. What?"
This is a hilarious reference to 2021's WandaVision when Vision was helping Wanda work through the loss of her brother Pietro.
Paul Bettany's Avenger tells Wanda, "What is grief, without love persevering?" Since this line was spoken in the Disney+ series it has become one of the most memorable quotes from all of Marvel's Phase 4.
See the full clip from Harley Quinn below:
Another Meta Reference in Harley Quinn
The Harley Quinn animated series has never been shy to drop Easter eggs or references to other areas of pop culture.
In Episode 2 of Season 3, a file titled "The Ayer Cut" can be seen on the Batcomputer desktop. Considering Margot Robbie's Harley Quinn is featured in 2016's Suicide Squad, this is a meta-reference to director David Ayer's version of the film.
Not too many references to Marvel will be found in the show. In July, writers Justin Halpern and Patrick Schumacker revealed that several Marvel jokes "ended up not being able to [be included]" because it "'kind of breaks the world of the show.'"
The specialty of this WandaVision reference is that it doesn't address any specific characters, so it avoids any confusing world-breaking.
Harley Quinn Seasons 1-3 are now streaming on HBO Max and Season 4 can be expected to begin later this year.
