The Batverse continues to expand following the success of the anticipatedThe Batman, which debuted earlier this month. With a plethora of Batman-related content coming shortly, director Matt Reeves revealed what fans can expect from the upcoming Gotham PD spinoff series and discussed how it evolved.
The Batmanspinoff for HBO Max began development in July 2020 withBoardwalk Empirecreator Terence Winter attached as showrunner and co-writer. However,Winter exited the Gotham PD projectdue to creative differences with Reeves, who serves as executive producer and co-writer. He was later replaced by Joe Barton.
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WhileThe Batmanspinoffinitially focused on the Gotham City Police Department, Reeves revealed during a recent appearance on theCyber Nerdspodcast that the show will now revolve around the notorious Arkham Asylum. “The GCDP thing, that story has kinda evolved,” he explained. “We’ve actually now [moved] 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… almost leaning into the idea of… it’s like a horror movie or a haunted house that is Arkham”
Reeves went on to add that he wanted to explore the idea of Arkham as another character in the Batman universe, inspired by how Gotham City was portrayed in the film. “I really [wanted] Arkham to exist as a character so that you’d go into this environment and encounter these characters in a way that feels really fresh,” he said. “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.”
During the interview, Reeves also elaborated onthe Penguin spinoff series. According to the director, the HBO Max show, starring Colin Farrell, will chronicle the villain’s ascent to power and his quest to achieve Gotham’s equivalent to the American Dream. “How he ascends to becoming that character is a great, sort of powerful mythic story,” Reeves explained.
The Batmandebuted to both commercial successand critical acclaim on March 4, becoming the fourth highest-grossing film of 2022. So far, the film has earned $128 million at the domestic box office on its opening weekend and $258.2 million worldwide, topping Tom Holland’sUncharted. Moreover,The Batmancontinues to receive praise from critics and audiences alike, scoring an 85% critics rating on Rotten Tomatoes, as well as a 90% audience score.
