Robert Pattinson in ‘The Batman’
Warner Bros. / Courtesy of Everett Collection
The gates of Arkham Asylum are closing — for now. A DC series for Max that focused on the hospital populated by Batman villains is axed, at least not in its current iteration. The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed.
The final version of the show had The stairsAntonio Campos has been appointed as showrunner and The Batsman filmmaker Matt Reeves as executive producer. While that version is no longer in the works, it is possible that another version will appear in the future.
The proposed series went through years of development and changed direction several times. Originally, the show was set in the world of the Reeves-directed The Batsman film and focused on the Gotham Police Department, set a year before the film. Reeves worked with Boardwalk Empire creator Terence Winter for a show that was announced in July 2020, but Winter left several months later and Joe Barton became the new showrunner in January 2021.
Eventually, that idea morphed into something else, with Reeves declaring in March 2022 that the show would now focus on Arkham. Campos was announced as the new showrunner in October 2022, and just weeks later, James Gunn and Peter Safran took over as the bosses of the newly formed DC Studios. The show was reconfigured as part of the new DC Universe, rather than the separate universe that is home to The Batsman (and its upcoming sequel), as well as The penguin spin-off program.
Reeves is working on the script for Batman Part IIwhich will be released in October 2026, starring Colin Farrell penguin will be released in September of this year. Variety was the first to report the news.