Bad news Arkham addicts, the planned Arkham Asylum TV series — which is not a live-action adaptation of Rocksteady’s game, just to be clear — is no longer moving forward at Max. Yep, you heard it right, the Bat-signal for this project just got turned off.
Back in October 2022, Antonio Campos was all set to be the showrunner of the series. He had big plans to bring us more from Matt Reeves’ The Batman universe, but now, sources are saying the version won’t fly. There’s still a chance someone else might pick up the Batarang and give us a new project in Gotham’s creepiest asylum, though.
This isn’t the first time the show has hit a snag. Originally announced in July 2020, it was supposed to focus on the Gotham police department. Terrence Winter was on board to write and executive produce but left in November 2020 due to creative differences. Enter Joe Barton, but it looks like that did not pan out either.
Matt Reeves mentioned in 2022 that the Gotham PD show had evolved into the Arkham Asylum show. He described it as a “horror movie or a haunted house that is Arkham.” Spooky! Campos then joined the project, but soon after, James Gunn and Peter Safran took over DC Studios, with big plans to reboot the whole DC universe. Gunn even said in December 2023 that the show was still in development: tt was supposed to be part of the new DCU, not The Batman world.
But don’t hang up your cape just yet, all is not lost. The Penguin is waddling to Max in September, with Colin Farrell back as the titular supervillain. And Reeves is hard at work on The Batman Part II, though we’ll have to wait until October 2026 for that one.
Meanwhile, Gunn and Safran are busy rebooting DC’s film and TV universe. There’s the new Superman flick in the works starring David Corenswet, as well as a a Green Lantern TV series that has been greenlit. This one will be an HBO original, not a Max series, thanks to a new content split announced by HBO and Max boss Casey Bloys.
So, while Arkham Asylum might be on ice for now, there’s still plenty of Gotham goodness to look forward to. Keep your Bat-signals crossed!
When Marcus is not trying to full combo a song on his favourite rhythm games, he’s either reading or watching some obscure Japanese mystery show/novel. Don’t ask him how much his Arkham Horror collection costs either, it’s his most closely guarded secret.
Natalie
