The Gotham PD spin-off based on The Batman has evolved into an Arkham Asylum story.
Even prior to its release, Matt Reeves and Warner Bros. were allocating resources towards developing a variety of The Batman spin-offs that would premiere on HBO Max. A series focusing on the corrupt nature of the Gotham City Police Department was first teased, with a show exploring Colin Farrell’s Penguin being announced shortly after. While good ol’ Oswald is still on track to return, the same can’t be said for the Gotham City PD show.
An earlier interview with director Matt Reeves teased a series that focused on Arkham Asylum, but it appears that the Gotham PD show has been put on hold, with the remaining remnants focusing on the iconic Asylum. Speaking with the Happy Sad Confused podcast, Reeves confirmed that the police-centric series has been put on pause, with the creative energy shifting towards a focus on Arkham Asylum, which received prominent placement in The Batman.
Matt Reeves went on to describe the show, discussing how it would have focused on a corrupt Gotham police officer during Batman’s first year who comes across Gordon. Will that show return? Reeves doesn’t rule out, as he relayed to Josh Horowitz that we might see it “someday.”
In a separate interview with The Cyber Nerds, Matt Reeves doubled down by revealing that he and Warner Bros. were instead shifting focus onto a show that detailed Arkham Asylum.
“The GCDP thing, that story has kind of evolved. We’ve actually now moving more into the realm of exactly what would happen in the world of Arkham as it relates coming off of our movie, and some of the characters, again in their origins that you would – almost leaning into the idea of – it’s like a horror movie or a haunted house that is Arkham. The idea of, again the way that Gotham is a character in the movie, I really want Arkham to exist as a character, so that 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, ‘Wait, we should really lean into this.’ And that’s kind of where that’s gone.”
Details are slim on this Arkham Asylum series. While it would have been amazing to see a gritty cop series set within Gotham, it will be interesting to see how the Arkham series manifests. Will it feature key villains that we’ve already been introduced to in The Batman? Or will it attempt to establish a brand new rogues gallery? Only time will tell.
Here is the synopsis for Robert Pattinson’s The Batman:
Two years of stalking the streets as the Batman (Robert Pattinson), striking fear into the hearts of criminals, has led Bruce Wayne deep into the shadows of Gotham City. With only a few trusted allies — Alfred Pennyworth (Andy Serkis), Lt. James Gordon (Jeffrey Wright) — amongst the city’s corrupt network of officials and high-profile figures, the lone vigilante has established himself as the sole embodiment of vengeance amongst his fellow citizens.
When a killer targets Gotham’s elite with a series of sadistic machinations, a trail of cryptic clues sends the World’s Greatest Detective on an investigation into the underworld, where he encounters such characters as Selina Kyle/aka Catwoman (Zoë Kravitz), Oswald Cobblepot/aka the Penguin (Colin Farrell), Carmine Falcone (John Turturro), and Edward Nashton/aka the Riddler (Paul Dano). As the evidence begins to lead closer to home and the scale of the perpetrator’s plans becomes clear, Batman must forge new relationships, unmask the culprit, and bring justice to the abuse of power and corruption that has long plagued Gotham City.
Directed by Matt Reeves, The Batman stars Robert Pattinson as the titular hero, Zoe Kravitz as Catwoman, Paul Dano as the Riddler, Jeffrey Wright as James Gordon, John Turturro as Carmine Falcone, Peter Sarsgaard as Gil Colson, Jayme Lawson as Bella Reál, with Andy Serkis as Alfred Pennyworth, and Colin Farrell as the Penguin.
The Batman is now playing in theaters. Stay tuned for all the latest news surrounding the future of Robert Pattinson’s universe, and what’s to come from the box office numbers, and be sure to subscribe to Heroic Hollywood’s YouTube channel for more original video content.
Source: Happy Sad Confused, The Cyber Nerds