Before Robert Pattinson donned the cowl in 2022’s The Batman, it was revealed director Matt Reeves and Sopranos’ Terrence Winter were working on a TV spinoff focused on Gotham City’s police department. Over time, the show seemingly evolved to focus on mainstay Batman location Arkham Asylum, but news on it has been nonexistent for two years. Now, it seems like that show may not make it to fruition–or at least, not in the form it was originally pitched to the public.
Per Variety, the series won’t be going forward over at Max, or at least the one conceived by Antonio Campos. He signed on for the series back in 2022, months after its Arkham pivot was revealed. The outlet acknowledged that while this version of the show has been rejected, there’s a chance that a different series focused on the Asylum or Gotham’s finest could emerge in the aftermath. Regarless, it’s been a tumultuous road for this show: it was originally conceived as being set a year prior to The Batman. Months later, Winter left the project, after which Giri/Haji creator Joe Barton stepped in.
After James Gunn and Peter Safran were inducted as the new DC Films heads, Gunn said the Arkham show would be set in the same universe as the upcoming movies, rather than the world of The Batman. Presumably, that’ll still hold true if a new version of the series ever crops up. Reeves’ isolated Batman-verse won’t be bereft of TV, though: a spinoff focused on Colin Farrell’s scene stealer Penguin will headline his own titular series, which The Hollywood Reporter claims will begin airing on September 8. Mr. Battinson will return to the silver screen with The Batman Part II (again directed by Reeves), with a current release date of October 2, 2026.
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