While the new DC cinematic universe is clearly going to make some big waves once James Gunn’s Superman movie arrives, some of its other plans are seemingly a little more vulnerable.
It’s been reported that another big spin-off show from the success of Matt Reeves’ The Batman just got cancelled at HBO, meaning it won’t be coming to the Max streaming service.
The show was going to centre around the infamous Arkham Asylum in Gotham City, home to so many of the captured and imprisoned villains in Batman’s world. According to Variety, the show is no longer moving forward, although it’s possible that another project using the prison could happen at some point down the line.
Much of HBO’s announcements around the show happened back before James Gunn and Peter Safran took over DC Studios to effectively reboots the DC cinematic universe and try to wrestle it into a genuine contender with Marvel. This means it’s not such a huge twist to see the Arkham show left by the wayside.
People are still gutted about it, though, as expressed on social media. One fan said: “OMG I really wanted this. This is heartbreaking”. Another agreed, mournfully: “This is a sad day for Batman fans”.
It’s worth remembering that another spin-off from The Batman isn’t just alive and well, but is in fact very much imminent. The Penguin, starring Colin Farrell as the titular villain after his role in the movie, starts streaming in September and promises to take us further into the criminal underbelly of Gotham.
Arkham Asylum is probably best known as a location in the wildly successful and critically lauded game Batman: Arkham Asylum from back in 2009 – the first in a trilogy of stealthy beat-em-ups from developers Rocksteady Studios. That game saw Batman trapped in the sprawling Asylum itself during a mass breakout and featured a range of different villains.
It was never stated whether the series would have taken inspiration from that game’s structure or plot (which expanded out to take in the whole of Gotham by the end of the trilogy), but it presumably would have been a handy starting point.
Superheros are a touchy subject where the fight to be the best streaming service is concerned. Disney+ has a huge headstart thanks to its Marvel library, but shows like The Boys on Prime Video have demonstrated how left-field approaches to the genre can win fans over to new services, too.
