If you missed the news, filmmaker Matt Reeves is teaming up with HBO Max for a live-action Batman TV series.
Well, not a full-on “Batman” show like the late/great Adam West-starring BATMAN back in the 1960s, but a police procedural/urban crime drama set in The Dark Knight’s hometown of Gotham.
And here’s the really cool thing about this project…
It’s set in the same universe as Reeves’ THE BATMAN.
Thus, this GOTHAM CENTRAL — as it’s tentatively being called — isn’t some one-off, self-contained thing like GOTHAM was on Fox from 2014-2019.
Furthermore, it appears that this isn’t the only THE BATMAN spinoff planned, as HBO Max says that the goal is to ultimately have “a new Batman universe across multiple platforms.” They continued by saying that this new Gotham City PD series “…provides an unprecedented opportunity to extend the world established in [THE BATMAN movie] and further explore the myriad of compelling and complex characters of Gotham.”
Matt Reeves calls this “an amazing opportunity” to expand his vision and the world of THE BATMAN and to “explore it in the kind of depth and detail that only a long-form format can afford.”
This news makes two things quite clear.
One, Batman is, indeed, this company’s #1 IP.
Secondly, Warner Bros. — and all that now entails (AT&T/HBO Max/Warner Bros. Television, DC Comics, etc.) — has A LOT of confidence in not only Matt Reeves, but THE BATMAN as well.
Think about it, OK? THE BATMAN is still 15 months out from release, and the entire company is already planning on the creation of “THE BATMAN-verse “across multiple platforms.”
Talk about a vote of confidence!
Yeah, Batman is immensely popular — this we all know — and expanding the brand is a given. Yet, they could’ve had this HBO Max GOTHAM CENTRAL (or whatever it’ll ultimately be called) be its own thing. They could’ve set it in the world of the most recent, albeit failed, Batman on film endeavor — despite all the BS reports that it was a done deal.
But, they didn’t.
They went with Matt Reeves’ vision of Batman and Gotham…and that speaks volumes. – Bill “Jett” Ramey
Filming of THE BATMAN is currently on hiatus in the UK. Follow BOF’s Everything About THE BATMAN Page. Make plans to attend BOF’s THE BATMAN Watch Party. THE BATMAN hits theaters on October 1, 2021.
