There’s been a lot of hype, and a lot of hope, placed on Matt Reeves’ upcoming film The Batman, with Robert Pattinson as Bruce Wayne. Even though we won’t see the film until late 2021, it’s already getting a spinoff. Reeves is developing a TV series focusing on the Gotham Police Department, and will be exclusive to HBO Max.
In a press release put out by Warner Bros. Reeves talks about expanding The Batman‘s universe:
“This is an amazing opportunity, not only to expand the vision of the world I am creating in the film, but to explore it in the kind of depth and detail that only a longform format can afford — and getting to work with the incredibly talented Terence Winter, who has written so insightfully and powerfully about worlds of crime and corruption, is an absolute dream.”
If you’re not familiar with Winter, he wrote for The Sopranos, and went on to create Boardwalk Empire and Vinyl, so he’s very successful in the HBO space.
“Our collaboration with Warner Bros. and DC allows us to elaborate and grow fan connections across these powerful brands for years to come,” Kevin Reilly, Chief Content Officer of HBO Max tells Variety. “This is Batman as most audiences have never seen before and we know fans will want to spend more time in this new world inspired by the film.”
Justin Kroll, a reporter for Variety, also discovered that the series is going to take place before the events of The Batman, as he said in a tweet:
No idea if Patz will make man appearance but what I have learned is that it be set before when THE BATMAN is set and dive into how Gotham became corrupt and infested with criminals. https://t.co/s1frb1trat
— Justin Kroll (@krolljvar) July 11, 2020
No word yet if Pattinson will make an appearance, but it is not outside of the realm of possibility. There’s no word yet as to when production would even begin.
HBO Max is getting a bunch of DC shows, with this spinoff just being the latest one. J.J. Abrams is working on a Justice League Dark adaptation. There is also an animated Aquaman series, the second season of Doom Patrol, the animated Harley Quinn show, an upcoming adaptation of Strange Adventures, an untitled Green Lantern series, and the comedy DC Super Hero High.