If I had a nickel for every time Stephen Fry voiced an all-knowing robot character as part of a major multimedia franchise this week, I’d have two nickels. Which isn’t a lot, but it’s weird that it happened twice. Or less meme-y, Fry played very similar voices mere days apart on Star Wars: Skeleton Crew and Harley Quinn Season 5.
Spoilers for both shows past this point, but on the finale of Skeleton Crew, the veteran British actor/writer/radio host was revealed as the voice of The Supervisor, a massive droid that ran everything on the secretive planet of At Attin. Was he benevolent? Evil? A pretty obvious nod to the Wizard of Oz in a show that already was nodding so hard to The Wizard of Oz that SM-33’s head rolled off? We can’t say because after one brief scene, the droid was “killed” by Jod Na Nawood (Jude Law).
That was on Tuesday night, by the way. Early Thursday morning, Harley Quinn Season 5 premiered, and revealed this season’s villain, Brainiac, at the end of the episode. Also voiced by Fry and mild spoilers for the rest of the season here, Brainiac on the show is also depicted as a robot man — versus the flesh and blood alien genius he’s usually depicted as in the comics.
While this weird confluence of events may have passed most viewers by, having already watched the entirety of Harley Quinn Season 5, it was eerie watching Fry be revealed on Skeleton Crew as a very similar sort of robot, albeit physically extremely different. Yes, there’s a level of coincidence here as I don’t think Disney, who owns Lucasfilm and Disney+, was coordinating with Warner Bros. Discovery, who owns DC Studios and Max, to put a cheeky little Easter egg in for the sure-to-be-tiny Venn diagram of viewers for both programs.
But mostly it points to how Fry is a soothing, calm voice of reason. The Supervisor is a massive black droid with a sometimes red eye. But he’s also kept the planet safe and secure for generations. Meanwhile, Brainiac’s motivations have yet to be revealed (they’re not great, you may not be surprised to hear), but there is a level of pathos and sympathy to the character, true to form for Harley Quinn. Fry’s resonant vocals help drive that home.
So yeah, just a weird coincidence. But if Fry shows up in Star Trek as a Borg or something… Buddy, talk to your agent. You’re getting type-cast.
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Harley Quinn Season 5 Premiere Dates And Episode Guide:
The first episode of Harley Quinn Season 5 premieres Thursday, January 16 at 3 am ET / Midnight PT on Max. One episode a week premieres after that, leading to the season finale on March 20, 2025.
Here’s the full list of episodes in Harley Quinn Season 5, with premiere dates:
- Thursday, January 16, 2025: Harley Quinn, Season 5, Episode 1
- Thursday, January 23, 2025: Harley Quinn, Season 5, Episode 2
- Thursday, January 30, 2025: Harley Quinn, Season 5, Episode 3
- Thursday, February 6, 2025: Harley Quinn, Season 5, Episode 4
- Thursday, February 13, 2025: Harley Quinn, Season 5, Episode 5
- Thursday, February 20, 2025: Harley Quinn, Season 5, Episode 6
- Thursday, February 27, 2025: Harley Quinn, Season 5, Episode 7
- Thursday, March 6, 2025: Harley Quinn, Season 5, Episode 8
- Thursday, March 13, 2025: Harley Quinn, Season 5, Episode 9
- Thursday, March 20, 2025: Harley Quinn, Season 5, Episode 10 *Season Finale*
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