Will There Be an Arkham Asylum HBO Max Series?

The Batman swooped into theaters with a big, batty bang, and audiences (and HBO Max) are already clamoring for director Matt Reeves to give them more of his specific take on Gotham. With box office totals reaching impressive heights (though perhaps some of that has to do with AMC charging “premium” prices on The Batman tickets) and a near-perfect score on Rotten Tomatoes, it seems likely that a sequel will be in The Batman’s future, but there are also a couple confirmed spinoff series in the works from Reeves, which will premiere on HBO Max. 

The Penguin Series

One spinoff will be centered around Colin Farrell’s Penguin. At the end of The Batman, there’s a void left in Gotham’s crime-filled underbelly, and the series will be focused around the Penguin’s battle to rise to the top of that disorganized criminal underworld. 

In an interview with the Toronto Sun, Reeves discussed the upcoming Penguin series and what else might be in the works:

“We’re doing this Penguin series and one of the great things about that is Colin Farrell — he’s like you’ve never seen him. He’s so incredible and he’s a scene-stealer. Along the way, we thought maybe we could do (his character) as a series. So I talked to HBO Max and showed them Colin in the movie and spoke to them about what this could be and they said, ‘Let’s do it.’ So we’re doing that and we’re doing another series that connects to Arkham (Asylum). We are talking and thinking about the next movie, but to be honest with you, at the moment, I really want the audience to connect with this. And I really believe they will because I think Rob is an incredible Batman.”

– Matt Reeves

From Gotham PD to Arkham Asylum 

Now, wait a second. It had recently been announced that the second spinoff show would focus around the GCPD (Gotham City Police Department) and Lieutenant Jim Gordon (played by my forever love Jeffrey Wright), but according to Reeves, the plan has changed. Reeves now plans to focus the second show around the inmates and inner workings of the infamous Arkham Asylum (where the Riddler and the Joker currently reside.) 

In an interview with The Cyber Nerds, Reeves spoke about his reasons for the pivot:

“The GCPD thing, that story has kinda evolved. We’ve actually now [moved] more into the realm of exactly what would happen in the world of Arkham as it relates coming off of our movie and some of the characters and their origins… almost leaning into the idea of… it’s like a horror movie or a haunted house that is Arkham. 

…The way that Gotham is a character in the movies, I really want Arkham to exist as a character. You go into this environment and encounter these characters in a way that feels really fresh. And so in our work on Gotham, that story started to evolve, and it started feeling [like], “Wait, we should really lean into this.” and then that’s kinda where that’s gone.”

– Matt Reeves

I’m not going to lie; I was really into the idea of a Law and Order-style procedural set in Gotham, especially if it meant flashbacks that included more of Peter Sarsgaard’s pathetically corrupt DA. But this new Arkham show also sounds very exciting! I love horror, and this might also give Reeves the jumping-off point to introduce Dr. Hugo Strange (Batman’s earliest nemesis), a twisted psychologist who, in the Arkham video games and Gotham, operates out of Arkham asylum and performs experiments on the inmates. It might also be the springboard for the rest of the Gotham rogues’ gallery. It has the potential to be both frightening and world-expanding! What a treat.

Release dates and casting have yet to be confirmed, but hopefully more Arkham (and Penguin) news will be announced soon.

(via: Toronto Sun, The Cyber Nerds. image: DC Entertainment/Warner Bros.)