Matt Reeves’ The Batman getting TV series spinoff from Boardwalk Empire creator

We’re yet to actually see a preview for The Batman – hell, we still don’t even have a proper look at Robert Pattinson in his batsuit – but writer/director Matt Reeves upcoming movie reboot of the Dark Knight is already getting a TV series spinoff. The announcement came this weekend past via a post on the DC Comics blog, revealing that the series is being setup at HBO Max and will be “set within the world of Reeves’ upcoming film” and “focus on the Gotham City Police Department”.

Reeves will produce via his 6th & Idaho production company as part of an overall first-look deal with Warner Bros, but the still-untitled show has landed a superstar showrunner in Terence Winter. First making his name as a writer/exec producer on HBO’s multiple award-winning mob drama The Sopranos, Winter would then go on to create his own multiple award-winning drama with Boardwalk Empire, before penning the script for Martin Scorsese’s The Wolf of Wall Street and earning himself an Oscar nomination for Best Original Screenplay.

Reeves spoke about his collaboration with Winter, who will pen the entire series, calling it an “absolute dream”.

This is an amazing opportunity. Not only to expand the vision of the world I am creating in the film, but to explore it in the kind of depth and detail that only a longform format can afford—and getting to work with the incredibly talented Terence Winter, who has written so insightfully and powerfully about worlds of crime and corruption, is an absolute dream.

According to the blog post, the TV series “will build upon the anatomy of corruption in Gotham City that’s set up by Reeves’ film, in the process launching a new Batman universe across multiple platforms”. That last bit certainly appears to tie into the recent rumours surrounding the upcoming Flash movie introducing a new official DC Comics multiverse on-screen, with Pattinson’s Batman occupying his own universe as opposed to the already established DC Expanded Universe in which movies like Batman v Superman, Justice League and the like already exists. The post also confirms previous reports that The Batman “will give fans a look at a young Batman early in his career as a superhero.” Kevin Reilly, Chief Content Officer at HBO Max, described the character as “Batman as most audiences have never seen before”, adding that “we know fans will want to spend more time in this new world inspired by the film.”

Series focusing on the Gotham City Police Department, whether it be on the comics page or TV screen, is certainly not a new thing. Even the DC Comics post acknowledges this, mentioning that this while this new show is an original take, there are some significant touchstones. Most prominently in comics there is writers Greg Rucka, Ed Brubaker and artist Michael Lark’s award-winning gritty Gotham Central series that followed GCPD detectives Renee Montoya and Crispus Allen of the Special Crimes Unit. Fox’s Gotham TV series also took the same narrative approach but instead starred a young Jim Gordon long before he became commissioner or Batman ever showed up on the scene.

The Batman will feature its own Commissioner Gordon played by Jeffrey Wright, but the blog takes pains to mention that “it’s unknown at this time which characters from the movie—if any—will appear on the show.” Along with Pattinson and Wright, the film will also feature Zoe Kravitz as Selina Kyle/Catwoman, Paul Dano as Edward Nashton/The Riddler, Colin Farrell as Oswald Cobblepot/The Penguin, and John Turturro as Carmine Falcone.

The Batman is scheduled for release on 1 October 2021.

Last Updated: July 13, 2020