Variety has confirmed that the previously announced Arkham Asylum TV series is no longer moving forward at Max. It was back in 2022 when we first learned Antonio Campos (The Staircase) had been tapped to serve as The Batman spin-off's writer and showrunner.
This iteration of the show has been scrapped, though it's supposedly possible that a new project set in the infamous Gotham City location could happen down the line. We're not banking on it, unfortunately.
In many ways, this news doesn't come as a surprise. When the show was announced, it had a series commitment but was being developed by Terrence Winter (Boardwalk Empire) and set inside the Gotham City Police Department. He later walked away due to creative differences.
Giri/Haji creator Joe Barton was next to take a crack at the untitled series - which many fans had already unfavourably compared to FOX's Gotham - only to walk away for the same reason as Winter.
The Batman director Matt Reeves, who was overseeing the series as executive producer due to its place in the Bat-Verse, later confirmed the Gotham PD show was no longer happening and "started to evolve" into a story about Arkham Asylum. Given what we saw in his movie, the expectation was that it might revolve around The Joker and The Riddler's budding friendship.
Then, things got even more confusing when James Gunn confirmed that Campos' Arkham Asylum was still in development, this time with it set in the new DCU (The Batman II and The Penguin, however, would not be). That confused fans, though it suggested Reeves would help introduce many of the villains DC Studios' Dark Knight will face...which also seemed strange.
Despite this disappointing news, The Penguin will be released this September and The Batman II is on track to be released in 2026.
"Well, there is a huge arc which you’ve got – nah, I’m not giving away anything," Alfred Pennyworth actor Andy Serkis recently said. "Basically, I know nothing about the movie other than that I’ve just found out that we’re probably likely to be starting filming early next year. Therefore, if you do the math, it’ll be a year and a half after that."
"I know that Matt [Reeves] is working really hard on the script," he added. "Matt Reeves being Matt Reeves, the extraordinary filmmaker that he is, I can only assume that it’s going to be another brilliant script, because I thought what he did with that first film was pretty amazing. I loved working with Rob Pattinson, and I really look forward to playing Alfred once more."
Stay tuned for updates as we have them.