The planned Arkham Asylum TV series is no longer moving forward at Max, Variety has learned.
As Variety exclusively reported in October 2022, Antonio Campos had come onboard to serve as writer and showrunner of the series, which was originally meant to be set within the world of Matt Reeves‘ “The Batman.” But according to an individual with knowledge of the situation, Campos’ version will not proceed. It is still possible, though, that a new project set within the infamous Gotham City asylum could be developed in the future, the individual noted.
Thus ends (at least for now) the show’s complicated path to the screen. It was originally announced in July 2020 with a series commitment, but at that time it was meant to focus on the inner workings of the Gotham PD as featured in “The Batman.” Terrence Winter was attached to write and executive produce, but he left the project in November 2020 due to creative differences. “Giri/Haji” creator Joe Barton was then brought in to write, but Warner Bros. ultimately parted ways with Barton as well.
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Reeves would then say in an interview in 2022 that the Gotham PD show was not happening but that the story had “started to evolve” into what became the Arkham Asylum show, which he described as being like a “horror movie or a haunted house that is Arkham.” Campos then joined, but not long after that, it was announced that James Gunn and Peter Safran would be taking over DC Studios and launching a rebooted film and television universe. In a series of social media posts in December 2023, Gunn said that the show was still in development and clarified that it was meant to be set within the new DCU rather than in the same world as “The Batman.”
This is all not to say that the world Reeves built in “The Batman” will lie fallow. “The Penguin,” a crime drama series with Colin Ferrell reprising the role of the titular supervillain, is scheduled to debut on Max in September. Reeves is also at work on “The Batman Part II,” though the film’s release date was recently pushed back from October 2025 to October 2026.
Gunn and Safran, meanwhile, are currently deep into relaunching DC’s interconnected film and TV universe. Production is now underway on a new Superman film starring David Corenswet, with multiple other films in the works. It was also recently announced that a Green Lantern TV series has been greenlit, but it will be branded as an HBO original rather than Max due to a new content delineation HBO & Max boss Casey Bloys revealed to Variety in June.