Terence Winter Reveals The Reason Behind His Exit From ‘The Batman’ Series

Here's what happened to Gotham Central!

The Batman Jeffrey Wright Jim Gordon Gotham PD HBO Max Matt Reeves

Terence Winter has opened up about his departure from HBO Max’s The Batman GCPD spin-off.

Back in July 2020, Matt Reeves announced that he was developing his first HBO Max series, with the project serving as a prequel to his DC Comics movie The Batman. The project never received an official title but was being referred to as “Gotham Central,” calling back to the procedural comic series of the same name by writer Ed Brubaker and Greg Rucka.

Gotham Central was expected to explore the inner workings of the Gotham City Police Department, with Matt Reeves working alongside Terence Winter, the creator of the HBO crime drama Boardwalk Empire. It never came to fruition, with Winter exiting the project in November 2020.

While doing the press rounds for his new Paramount Plus series Tulsa King, Terence Winter spoke about his time on Gotham Central and his exit from the series, saying that it happened as a result of creative differences.

“We were going to do a gritty cop show that happened to be set in the world of the Gotham City Police Department,” Winter told TheWrap. “I did a couple of outlines and just never really got it there, I guess, for Matt Reeves and company. We just decided to part ways rather than keep banging our heads against the wall, if we were seeing the show in a different way. But it was completely amicable and I know Joe Barton took a swing, as well. I think he ended up in the same place, and now they’re doing a show about the Penguin. I think it’s great.”

The future of The Batman

Critics and audiences alike responded quite well to The Batman. Robert Pattinson’s portrayal as the Caped Crusader in his second year of fighting crime was widely-acclaimed, as were the performances of Zoe Kravitz, Paul Dano, Jeffrey Wright, Andy Serkis, and Colin Farrell. The latter is set to star in and executive produce the HBO Max spinoff series The Penguinwhich looks to explore his rise in the criminal underworld of Gotham City. Meanwhile, a series set in Arkham Asylum was also announced to be in development. So even though Gotham Central never became a reality, fans eager to return to Matt Reeves’ Gotham City have plenty of content to look forward to.

The Batman is now available to own on 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray, Blu-ray, DVD and Digital HD. It is also available to stream exclusively on HBO Max. Stay tuned for all the latest news on Matt Reeves’ universe, and be sure to subscribe subscribe to our YouTube channel for more content!

Michael Bezanidis

Michael Bezanidis

Michael is the Managing Editor of Heroic Hollywood. When he's not playing video games, he's usually writing about film and television.