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The Batman's Arkham Asylum Spinoff Takes Major Step Forward
HBO Max's Arkham Asylum series, set in the world of The Batman, has hired a new head writer. While Warner Bros. Discovery has continued to flesh out the DCEU, the studio also kicked off a new continuity earlier this year as Matt Reeves' The Batman rebooted the iconic DC franchise with Robert Pattinson as the Dark Knight. While not a full-on origin story, The Batman explored Bruce Wayne's second year as a crime fighter, with The Riddler serving as the first main antagonist of the rebooted franchise.
Even though The Batman 2 is in the works, Reeves is just getting started as he is working together with the studio to flesh out his universe with spinoff projects, both on the big and small screen. Colin Farrell's The Penguin series on HBO Max is getting ready to start production in 2023, but Reeves has other projects in mind that will continue to explore The Batman's world, including members of his rogues gallery.
After initially being conceived as a Gotham PD show that was changed to focus on Arkham Asylum, the spinoff series is taking a huge step forward. According to Variety, HBO Max has hired Antonio Campos as the new head writer. If Arkham Asylum goes forward on HBO Max, Campos would be its showrunner and one of the executive producers. This is the biggest update since the project was initially put on ice earlier in 2022. Thus far, neither Warner Bros. Discovery, HBO Max, nor Campos' representatives have commented on the story.
How Arkham Aslyum Can Stand Out As A DC TV Show
While the DC TV landscape has been massive over the last couple of years, primarily through The CW's Arrowverse, Arkham Asylum has the potential to do something new for the brand. If Arkham Asylum comes to fruition on HBO Max, this could potentially be the first horror-based series for DC, as Reeves has specified in previous interviews how he had envisioned it as a "horror movie or a haunted house that is Arkham." While Arkham Asylum has been featured in numerous Batman and DC projects, this would be the first time the institution would get a massive spotlight, allowing Warner Bros. to break some new territory.
The news about Arkham Aslyum progressing forward comes right off the announcement that James Gunn and Peter Safran will head DC Studios, although it's unclear where Reeves' The Batman franchise falls into their plans. Even though HBO Max has yet to give the spinoff a straight-to-series order, if they like Campos' script and director for Arkham Asylum, they will likely proceed with it sometime in 2023. Time will tell what happens to Arkham Asylum, but with a new head writer in charge, it's a good step forward for the potential The Batman offshoot.
