We found out earlier this year that the Gotham Central The Batman spinoff that was originally in development for HBO Max had "evolved" into a show focusing on iconic Gotham City location Arkham Asylum, and the project has now tapped a new showrunner in Antonio Campos.
According to Variety, The Staircase creator will also direct an undisclosed number of episodes, while working on the scripts with The Batman director Matt Reeves. Terence Winter was originally on board as a writer before parting ways over creative differences, and when the GCPD-centric story shifted to Arkham Asylum, the project also lost Giri/Haji writer Joe Barton.
We still don't know a whole lot about the series, but Reeves has previously described the concept as "a horror movie or a haunted house that is Arkham."
"The idea, again the way that Gotham is a character in the movie, 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."
The notorious institution where the Dark Knight sends the majority of his criminally insane foes has featured in most live-action and animated Batman adventures, and we saw The Riddler (Paul Dano) encounter a new take on The Joker (Barry Keoghan) in the Asylum towards the end of The Batman.
We have no idea if those particular characters will return for this show, but this small-screen spinoff would provide the perfect opportunity to introduce some of the Caped Crusader's lesser-known villains/
Reeves will executive produce under his 6th & Idaho banner along with Daniel Pipski and Adam Kassan. Dylan Clark will also executive produce with 6th & Idaho’s Rafi Crohn co-executive producing.
No premiere date has been set.
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Mark Cassidy is a writer, photographer, amateur filmmaker, and Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic from Dublin, Ireland.