A planned DC television series set at Arkham Asylum is no longer happening at Max, the network told TheWrap on Friday.
The show has gone through a number of iterations since it was first announced in July 2020, beginning as an untitled show about the Gotham Polcie Department that fans saw as a potential evolution of the acclaimed “Gotham Central” comic book series. The most recent version had Antonio Campos, who created and directed the Max true crime series “The Staircase,” at the helm.
He was set as showrunner shortly before James Gunn and Peter Safran took the reins as they reboot the DC film and TV universe.
Prior to Campos, “The Batman” director Matt Reeves was set to deliver a series that takes place in the same universe as his 2022 feature film that introduced Robert Pattinson as the Caped Crusader, as well as the forthcoming “The Penguin” series.
In May 2022, Reeves said that that series, originally set to focus on the Gotham PD, was “on hold” indefinitely. At the time, he said that the show had shifted focus to Gotham’s infamous home to many of Batman’s villains, which he described as the “horror movie or a haunted house that is Arkham.”
In December 2023, Gunn clarified on social media that the show was still in the works, but that it would be set within the newly drawn parameters of the DCU instead of as a companion piece to Reeves’ film.
There is still, however, ample Gotham-centric content in DC’s pipeline: “The Penguin,” starring Colin Farrell, will debut on Max this fall. Reeves is set to deliver “The Batman Part II” in October 2026.
Production has already begun on the next Superman film, with David Corenswet, as previously announced, taking over the iconic role for the first film in the new Gunn-helmed universe. That world is getting its own Batman film with the already announced “The Brave and the Bold,” directed by “The Flash” director Andy Muschietti.
Will Reeve, the son of beloved Superman star Christopher Reeve, will have a cameo in the Superman film.
Variety first reported this story.
