If HBO Max had to choose between the two already announced spinoffs of “The Batman,” let’s all just be thankful that the one starring the prosthetics-laden scene-stealer Colin Farrell is safe for now.
The streamer, however, has clipped the wings of a second prequel series set in the expanded universe of the superhero blockbuster starring Robert Pattinson, director Matt Reeves revealed.
Discussing the future of Bat-centric programming on Monday’s episode of the “Happy Sad Confused” podcast, Reeves said the prequel series centered around a corrupt cop is not moving forward at HBO Max.
“One thing that we’re not doing that I was gonna do … So, there’s the Gotham police show, which — that one actually is put on hold,” he said. “We’re not really doing that.”
First announced in July 2020, the spinoff idea ― tentatively titled “Gotham City P.D.” ― was set to dive deeply into the seedy underbelly of the city’s police department and “build upon the motion picture’s examination of the anatomy of corruption in Gotham City.”
At the time, the series was meant to launch a new Batman universe across multiple platforms, with Reeves developing the script alongside “Boardwalk Empire” creator Terence Winter, who later exited the project over creative differences.
“It wasn’t going to be a Batman story, it was going about this corrupt cop,” Reeves said on the podcast. “And it was going to be about how the worst gang in Gotham were the GCPD. And [the cop] was going to come across paths, he would have touched paths with Gordon, who would have been — it would have been someone to measure him against. But it would be a battle for [the cop’s] soul.”
Likening the vision for the series to the classic crime drama “Prince of the City,” Reeves said the idea was “super cool.” But the concept didn’t exactly land for HBO.
Reeves is instead pivoting to a new project about Arkham Asylum, the penitentiary where many of Batman’s most famous villains are serving time.
“I really want Arkham to exist as a character,” Reeves said in an interview with Cyber Nerds earlier this week. “You go into this environment and encounter these characters in a way that feels really fresh. And so in our work on Gotham, that story started to evolve, and it started feeling [like], ‘Wait, we should really lean into this.’ And then that’s kinda where that’s gone.”
The filmmaker is also mapping out the first season of a spinoff centered around Farrell’s Oswald Cobblepot (aka The Penguin), with the actor starring and executive producing the project.
The series, to be written by Lauren LeFranc and executive produced by Reeves, will reportedly “delve into The Penguin’s rise to power in the Gotham criminal underworld.”
“The Batman” is now playing in theaters.
