Everything You Need to Know About the HBO Max and Discovery+ Drama

With 'Batgirl' and other big projects shelved, here’s what you need to know about the drama brewing over at HBO Max and what it means for you as a subscriber.

May 23, 2023
Warner HBO Max Discover Explainer
Image via Getty
Warner HBO Max Discover Explainer
Image via Getty

It was bound to happen. The streaming subscription market got too crowded, and the quest to be the biggest dog in the ring became a Pyrrhic one. Streaming underwent a massive expansion; now, we’re seeing the corresponding compression. Subscription rates have leveled off, growth has slowed, and what was once a bottomless wallet that funded every project has gotten lighter.

It’s one of the reasons why HBO Max made such a splash in 2020; it was entering a crowded, oversaturated marketplace, and it still managed to become one of the beloved streaming services, pretty much overnight. But unfortunately, that might change.

What we’re seeing now, with the merger of WarnerMedia and Discovery Inc., is a perfect storm. WarnerMedia, HBO’s parent company, announced in August that it merged with Discovery to form a new company: Warner Bros. Discovery. And that’s led to some questionable decisions, like scrapping Batgirl, that have rubbed both subscribers and creators the wrong way. Here’s what you need to know about the drama brewing over HBO Max, the launch of the new streaming service Max and what it all means for you as a subscriber. We will continue updating it as long as there are new developments to report. 

What’s going on at HBO? 

HBO Max explainer
Image via HBO

Well, the drama is specifically over HBO Max, the streaming service that is separate from the 24-hour cable channels. HBO Max launched in 2020; its predecessors were HBO Go and HBO Now, which were migrated over to this new service. Currently, there are over 75 million HBO Max subscribers worldwide. Netflix is still in the lead with 225 million subscribers, but 75 million subscribers is nothing to sneeze at, especially since Netflix predates HBO Max considerably.

Warner Bros. (Warner merged with HBO’s parent company Time Inc. in 1989) also previously dealt with some controversy. The studio caught a lot of flack in 2021, when in the middle of the pandemic, the company decided to release all of its theatrical movies on HBO Max on the same day they debuted in theaters. It’s difficult to know, with complete certainty, how successful this strategy was. It was great for subscribers, don’t get us wrong. But it led to lawsuits and accusations from a handful of content creators and filmmakers saying that HBO Max had cost them millions of dollars in box office returns.

The latest accusations are very much hand in hand with the old ones; it’s a general perception that Warner Bros.—and by association, HBO—is not as friendly to creators or its audience as it once was.

There was a glut of incredible content on the streaming service for HBO Max subscribers to enjoy: all of the television specials and series from HBO proper; the Max Originals created specifically for the service; the classic Warner Bros. film archive; and extensive deals with third-party platforms like Comedy Central, Adult Swim, TNT, TBS, Turner Classic Movies, and New Line Cinema. 

That’s why you can now watch The Lord of the Rings trilogy, Citizen Kane, Looney Tunes, Euphoria, Sesame Street, South Park, House of the Dragon, and Key & Peele all in the same place and for a single subscription price. It’s unprecedented for a single service to have this much readily available content, so soon after its launch. And although the company hasn’t made an announcement yet, subscribers are justifiably worried that at some point, they may be asked to pay more for what they’re currently getting—or that the quality of the content will be affected.

When did the problems begin?

David Zaslav
Image via Getty

Let’s start with the appointment of David Zaslav to the position of CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery. Zaslav was originally CEO of Discovery, and the merger of that company with WarnerMedia was his brainchild. He also benefited financially; his annual salary is $3 million. His annual bonus is $22 million. And his stock options are valued at $190 million.

Prior to his stewardship of HBO, Zaslav had a reputation for cultivating and promoting reality shows and lifestyle content, which he saw as low-risk and more profitable than scripted shows. And because of this, many critics feel that Zaslav is more concerned with the bottom-line lowest common denominator than the premium content that HBO is known for. 

He’s openly discussed a willingness to share content with other platforms, so long as the price is right. In a recent earnings call, he discussed HBO Max’s “male skew” and Discovery+’s female skew—a reductive way of looking at demographics based on gender stereotypes.

Zaslav is a traditionalist; he believes in big-budget filmmaking for wide theatrical release, and critics are worried he’s not reading the room—that streaming media is the way of the future, and HBO is doing its subscribers a disservice.

Why were ‘Batgirl’ and other projects canceled and shelved? 

There were some projects that were made and greenlighted under the old model that have now been canceled or shelved permanently. As part of the effort to focus on theatrical productions (and perhaps get the company a nice tax write-off, which means that it’ll reduce the taxable income the company owes to the IRS), Warner Bros. Discovery shelved the Batgirl movie, even though it was already in postproduction. The $90 million already spent and the rumored-to-be-great performance by Leslie Grace were not enough to save it. On her Instagram, Grace was the picture of graciousness after the bad news broke: “I feel blessed to have worked among absolute greats and forged relationships for a lifetime in the process! To every Batgirl fan — THANK YOU for the love and belief, allowing me to take on the cape and become, as Babs said best, ‘My own damn hero!’ Batgirl for life!”

Now, no one will get to see Batgirl, in theaters or on HBO Max. It’s just going to sit in a warehouse and collect dust. To show it would be to commit tax fraud; they cannot count it as a deductible if they distribute it with the intention of making money. “​​We are saddened and shocked by the news,” said Batgirl directors Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah in a public statement. “We still can’t believe. As directors, it is critical that our work be shown to audiences, and while the film was far from finished, we wish that fans all over the world would have had the opportunity to see and embrace the final film themselves.” 

It was reported that DC Films President Walter Hamada almost quit over the Batgirl debacle. Issa Rae tweeted a joke that she needed to figure out who to seduce to protect her show Rap Sh!t. Although, when she appeared on Hell of a Week, she walked back her comments. 

“I’m not worried,” Rae said. “We will see, but I’m not worried.”

Unfortunately, film and show creators don’t have a guarantee of good treatment no matter where they go. Netflix, for example, has canceled multiple shows before they finished. It seems like the company doesn’t want mid-ranged hits with loyal followings and instead prefers cultural phenomenons. Creators can have the rug snatched out from under them at any moment, even if the audience loves what they do.

Which projects are safe and what has been removed?

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There are a lot of questions about the rest of the DCEU slate and other projects, including Black Adam and the fan-favorite, Peacemaker. Both Black Adam and Peacemaker are safe from the ax so far. The Flash is also safe, despite the legal troubles of lead actor Ezra Miller. They stand accused, in multiple incidents, of burglary, grooming of a minor, child abuse, domestic abuse, and neglect. Miller announced this August that they are currently dealing with mental issues. But Zaslav loves The Flash. So there’s that.

Other content that was already on HBO Max hasn’t been as lucky, though. HBO is quietly taking down movies and hundreds of episodes of television. Particularly controversial was the removal of 200 Sesame Street episodes. But that’s not all. In a complete break from its recent strategy, HBO is taking down 20 HBO Max Original series, including shows like Generation and Infinity Train. And because they were made exclusively for HBO Max, they’re not going to be available anywhere else. So they’re essentially being erased from existence. Some HBO Max original movies including Moonshot, Superintelligence, The Witches, An American Pickle, Locked Down, and Charm City Kings have already disappeared from the service. A Twitter account @isitstillonHBO is attempting to keep up with the content that’s being removed from HBO Max in real-time.

Why is this happening?

Warner HBO Max Discover Explainer
Image via Getty

The reason seems to be as simple and mundane as money. Warner Bros. Discovery needs to cut $3 billion out of its budget, and just because there is a lot of content does not mean that it is popular or being actively watched. And the upkeep costs of keeping all of this content on-demand, ready to be clicked on, are in the millions when you factor in residuals and royalties for actors, creators, and musicians.

But is it worth losing the trust of people? Is it worth burning bridges? One disenchanted storyboarder who wished to remain anonymous told TheWrap, “If I’m a showrunner that had this happen to my project, why would I work with that studio again if I could help it? It’s a business. We get it. But the way all this work just got thrown away in the blink of an eye just feels so callous.”

Internally, the company is also dealing with adjustments due to the merger. HBO Max laid off approximately 70 people last month. They were in charge of unscripted, kids and family, and international content, and according to sources who spoke to The Daily Beast, the majority of people laid off were people of color—people who in many cases determined the type of content that would live on the platform. The homogeneity of the staff may have a similar, chilling effect on the types of shows and movies that make it onto the platform and the projects they will greenlight in the future.

The current plan is to unify the HBO Max service and the Discovery+ service under a single brand. And the company concedes that both platforms will lose content in the process. The service is expected to launch in Summer 2023. But the company hasn’t shared any pricing information. Currently, HBO Max costs $9.99 per month with ads and $14.99 per month for no ads.

Does Discovery+ add any value for the majority of HBO subscribers? How can Warner Bros. Discovery measure that value in dollars and cents, without running its subscribers off? Only time will tell. 

HBO Max gets a worse name

We still don’t have a pricing plan or a firm rollover date. But Vulture reported that we may have a new name for the merged streaming service that will combine HBO Max and Discovery+. The current frontrunner is “Max.”

That’s right. The execs at Warner Bros. Discovery are claiming a most popular dog name as their sole moniker. They’re dropping the “HBO,” which apparently is the less marketable half of the name. If the execs ultimately go with this, it’s a decision that is both bizarre and entirely appropriate. Both HBO and Discovery are losing their identities, subsumed by the relentless demand for optimized content. “Max” is kind of perfect, in a bitterly ironic sort of way.

'Minx' gets the ax

Here’s another troubling development. It used to be that getting renewed for a second season meant that a TV show would return. It used to imply job security, but not anymore. Despite announcing in May that Minx would be back for Season 2 and completing production (filming wraps this week), HBO Max has decided not to broadcast any new episodes of the Jake Johnson-led show. And accordingly, Lionsgate is currently shopping the show to other distributors.

A troubling disappearing act

Westworld Season 4 interview Jeffrey Wright
Image via HBO

A troubling trend continues: HBO Original shows and movies that were once readily available—on demand—have now vanished into the digital ether. Some of this is a matter of contractual practicality. For example, HBO will be removing Season 1 of Minx. It’s unfortunate but somewhat defensible, especially if Lionsgate is shopping the show to other platforms as a package deal.

What’s far more egregious is what’s happening to shows like Westworld. That show was canceled before it could produce its planned final season. Now, HBO plans to take the entire show off the platform. And it’s doing the same thing to shows like The Nevers, Raised by Wolves, and The Time Traveler’s Wife.

Variety reports that these shows will eventually find new life on ad-supported, third-party sites, but that’s a far cry from their current prestige status. And it’s an example of monetizing everything on a micro level, even if it leads to a long-term devaluation of these shows’ inherent worth.

It’s been speculated that by pulling the shows, HBO won’t have to pay residuals to the people who made the shows, which smacks of greed and pettiness, especially since non A-list performers and filmmakers rely on that steady income to stay afloat.

No more 'Batman Beyond'

Michael Keaton as Batman
Photo by Sunset Boulevard/Getty Images

In other news, the DC Expanded Universe is getting a radical reboot, helmed by James Gunn and Peter Safran. And because of that, a lot of long-germinating DC film projects are getting the axe. Batgirl was the earliest sign of this. But since then, there’s been more cancellations.

Gunn and Safran have decided to not move forward with the Batman Beyond movie, which would have recast Michael Keaton as Bruce Wayne. Keaton last donned the cowl and cape for Batman Returns in 1992. This latest movie would have bridged the gap between those early movies and the current ones, evolving Keaton’s Wayne into a mentor figure for a new Batman.

Bad news for 'Wonder Woman 3'

Wonder Woman 1984
Image via Warner Bros.

Wonder Woman 3 is also in limbo. Patty Jenkins, director on both Wonder Woman and Wonder Woman 1984, will not be helming the next entry in the series. And considering that the original Wonder Woman is one of the few bright spots in the original DCEU, that’s a big deal.

The Wrap initially reported that Jenkins walked off the project, after receiving notes from studio execs about her plans for the franchise. But Jenkins denied this report in a tweet: “When there started being backlash about WW3 not happening, the attractive clickbait false story that it was me who killed it or walked away started to spread. This simply is not true. I never walked away. I was open to considering anything asked of me.”

Superman gets fired

Cavill is saying goodbye to Supes
Image via Getty/Toshifumi Kitamura/AFP

And lastly, Henry Cavill announced that he will no longer be playing Superman in the DCEU. Cavill starred in the first DCEU film, Man of Steel, and made a special cameo in 2022’s Black Adam, teasing his return. So the decision to recast the role seems almost symbolic; this is a true franchise reboot that will forge its own path, apart from the patchwork storyline that came prior.

Cavill had a meeting with Gunn and Safran, who broke the news to him: “After being told by the studio to announce my return back in October, prior to their hire, this news isn’t the easiest, but that’s life,” said Cavill in his statement. “The changing of the guard is something that happens. I respect that.”

Gunn later tweeted that the rebooted DCEU would start with a movie about a young Superman, which is why Cavill would not fit the role. Gunn has earned some slack; his Guardians of the Galaxy movies were wonderful, and his reimagined Suicide Squad movie was another bright spot in a wildly inconsistent shared universe. We won’t know whether these decisions—and no doubt, the numerous ones to come—were good or bad ones until we see what Gunn has planned. But until then, we’re cautiously hopeful. There’s a lot of chaos going on between HBO, Discovery, DC Comics, and Warner Bros. But perhaps, this particular chaos will give the fans more content to enjoy rather than less.

HBO Max renamed as Max

On April 12, Warner Bros. Discovery announced that HBO Max would be renamed Max. WBD explained that rebranding will appeal to a wider audience starting on May 23. WBD’s president and CEO of streaming and games, JB Perette, detailed the streaming service’s past reputation, saying it previously raised eyebrows over its content and price point. Perette hopes the rebrand will preserve and protect “the most iconic trailblazing brand in entertainment.”

His statement continued, “HBO is not TV. HBO is HBO. It needs to stay that way, which is why we will privilege it in the product experience and also not push it to the breaking point by forcing it to take on the full breadth of this new content proposition.”

‘Harry Potter,’ ‘The Big Bang Theory,’ and more added to the lineup

WBD announced that a Harry Potter series featuring an entirely new cast will be coming to the streaming service. Each season is based on one of the books written by J.K. Rowling, who is on board as executive producer. It’s currently unclear when the show is expected to debut.

“We are delighted to give audiences the opportunity to discover Hogwarts in a whole new way,” CEO of HBO and Max Content Casey Bloys said. “Harry Potter is a cultural phenomenon and it is clear there is such an enduring love and thirst for the Wizarding World. In partnership with Warner Bros. Television and J.K. Rowling, this new Max Original series will dive deep into each of the iconic books that fans have continued to enjoy for all of these years.” 

In addition to a Harry Potter series, there is also a Big Bang Theory spinoff in the works. There weren’t any details regarding the plot during the announcement. The original series aired on CBS for 12 seasons from 2007 to 2019. A spinoff called Young Sheldon premiered in 2017, and is currently in its sixth season.

Warner Bros. Discovery Stock Drops After Max Presentation https://t.co/VlXL8lD4jD

— Variety (@Variety) April 12, 2023

On April 12, it was reported that WB Discovery stock fell 5.8 percent to $14.05. This was in comparison to WBD’s media rivals, including Disney; which was down 2.5 percent, and Netflix; which was down 2 percent, according to Variety. 

Variety further noted, “The hourlong WB Discovery presentation was held during trading hours, at 10 a.m. PT on the Warner Bros. lot in Burbank. Wall Street’s verdict on WB Discovery’s plans is still not in, but the immediate reaction of investors indicates that the company still has a long road ahead in sorting out its profit centers in the age of streaming.”

How much will Max cost?

Max will introduce three different plans for viewers looking to subscribe to the streaming service. If the top-tier plan is selected, account holders will have access to four concurrent log-ins, according to Deadline. 

The plans are:

- Max Ad Light for $9.99 a month or $99.99 a year. Two concurrent streams.

- Max Ad Free for $15.99 a month, or $149.99 a year. Two concurrent streams.

- Max Ultimate Ad Free for $19.99 a month, or $199.99 a year. Four concurrent streams.

As for existing HBO Max subscribers, they will have access to Max at the same price. They will also have access to their current plan features for at least six months after Max’s launch. Existing subscribers’ profiles, settings, watch history, and more will migrate so viewers can easily pick up where they left off.

Launched “Max” for the first time and all I got was this error. pic.twitter.com/yZlimkltNf

— Dan Linden (@DanLinden) May 23, 2023

Streaming services have had a rough go this year. On the morning of the Max launch on May 23, users reported that they were having difficulty using the streaming platform even if they were promised a smooth transition. While some received a login error, others had an issue loading the content. They quickly took to social media to share screenshots of the error pages they received. “You must always anticipate issues on a tech rollout of this scale,” a Max spokesperson told news outlets. “We can share that only minor ones have emerged and were quickly remedied.”

Max is #TheOneToWatch for every you. Now streaming. Learn more: https://t.co/C5fiK1WLBu #StreamOnMax pic.twitter.com/DRSobH2JcC

— Max (@StreamOnMax) May 23, 2023

The Max’s launch came with a surprise from its creators by offering users an increase in the 4K-resolution content the service will be hosting. Executive Vice President Sudheer Sirivara of Warner Bros. Discovery, Max shared in a statement that the service will be packing more than 1,000 films and TV episodes in 4K resolution, which is about eight times more 4K content than HBO Max. That content will come with a price tag, though. The platform’s highest tier will cost $20 a month.

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