Yesterday evening, the news broke that DC Studios is no longer moving forward with a Max TV series set in Arkham Asylum. The project had a complicated journey, going through multiple showrunners and even switching universes.
Original plans called for it to serve as a spin-off to The Batman, only for James Gunn to later casually mention that the Matt Reeves-produced series was to be set in the DCU instead.
That turned it into a tie-in to The Brave and the Bold, an unexpected move that left fans concerned that DC Studios was pivoting away from plans to expand Reeves' Bat-Verse with a slate of spin-offs.
Now, Arkham Asylum showrunner Joe Otterson has broken his silence on the cancellation.
Over the past 24 hours, there's been speculation about the trades getting it wrong and the scrapped show is the Bat-Verse-set series Gunn confirmed was no longer in the works months ago. However, as Otterson explains, neither version of this series is happening now.
"To clarify, James Gunn said months ago that the Arkham Asylum show would be part of the DCU rather than Reeves’ world of The Batman," he explained on X. "But there is now no Arkham show in active development at DC."
"They could always revisit later with a new writer but the original project that Max committed to in 2020 is dead. That was the Gotham PD show that Reeves said 'kind of evolved' into an Arkham show. Anything developed now would be wholly new and separate from that," Otterson concluded.
It's a shame the show won't ever see the light of day, but it could be one of those ideas that the trade got wind of but never really got too far beyond the discussion stage.
The Penguin is still on the way and will be released on Max this September. As for The Batman II, it's been delayed an entire year to October 2, 2026; The Brave and the Bold, meanwhile, doesn't have a confirmed release date despite serving as the DCU Batman's introduction.
How do you feel about Arkham Asylum being scrapped? As always, let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.