Matt Reeves' highly anticipated film The Batman will be getting a companion series at HBO Max from Boardwalk Empire creator Terence Winter. On Friday, HBO Max announced the original DC drama, which will be set in the Gotham City police department. If that sounds familiar, yes, Gotham followed Detective James Gordon in his pre-Commissioner days and just wrapped a five-season run last year.
While there's no title just yet, The Batman producer Dylan Clark and Warner Bros. Television will be involved. Winter, who was a producer on The Sopranos, will write the series while Reeves (Cloverfield, Dawn and Rise of the Planet of the Apes) is set to lay the groundwork for the world in the show after doing the same for The Batman. The project promises to "build upon the motion picture's examination of the anatomy of corruption in Gotham City."
Reeves weighed in, saying, "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."
It's uncertain if Robert Pattinson's Batman/Bruce Wayne will appear in the show, but it will be set in the same universe. "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," added HBO Max chief content officer Kevin Reilly.
Warner Bros. currently has another Batman spinoff series focused on Alfred Pennyworth, Bruce Wayne's reliable butler, on Epix. The second season of Pennyworth started shooting in January, but it's not clear if it's still set to return this year due to the coronavirus pandemic hindering production for most shows and movies.
Meanwhile the Batwoman series that's part of the Arrowverse airing on the CW recently had its titular character recast. Ruby Rose previously played the role, but she exited the series and was replaced by a new character played by Javicia Leslie.
"I am extremely proud to be the first Black actress to play the iconic role of Batwoman on television, and as a bisexual woman, I am honored to join this groundbreaking show which has been such a trailblazer for the LGBTQ+ community," Leslie said in a statement
