The news that we’ll be getting a spinoff series from The Batman on HBO Max is pretty exciting (to most fans, anyway), with the show focusing on the Gotham City Police Department. We’re now getting some new reports of what the series will cover though, with the latest information being that the as-yet-untitled program will act as a prequel to Matt Reeves’ The Batman, exploring how Gotham City became overrun with crime.
The story comes via Variety’s Justin Kroll, who’s also keen to emphasize that things are at an early stage of development. Here’s what he had to say:
“No idea if [Pattinson] will make an appearance but what I have learned is that it be set before when The Batman is set and dive into how Gotham became corrupt and infested with criminals.”
To this end, it’s currently unknown whether Jeffrey Wright’s James Gordon will appear in the series, although this is arguably more likely than Robert Pattinson’s Bruce Wayne making a cameo. After all, Matt Reeves is working on the spinoff with Boardwalk Empire‘s Terence Winter, implying that we might be getting a procedural drama largely free of superheroics, with more of an emphasis on organized crime figures like the Falcone family.
Of course, a prequel series on the Gotham police has been done, to some extent, by Gotham and various DC comics shows, although this new project sounds like it’ll be less concerned with setting up future Dark Knight rogues. There is room, though, for more spinoffs and DC series to come out of Reeves’ deal with the WB Television Group, so there may also be additional shows tied into The Batman, which is currently targeted for October 2021.
Given the current state of the industry, it may just be possible to get this spinoff on HBO Max before The Batman‘s release, especially if it’s a limited series. At any rate, it’s an exciting time for DC fans wanting new content on the small screen, with a range of adaptations reportedly in-development. Not to mention ongoing shows like Batwoman breaking new ground.
