The Arkham Asylum TV series which was in development for Max has been scrapped

Per Variety, the Arkham Asylum TV series has been scrapped. The series, which was in development for Max, had been in the works for a number of years, with a handful of creatives coming and going.

When the series was announced four years ago, it initially didn’t focus on Arkham Asylum. Instead, it was supposed to revolve around the Gotham City Police Department. Terence Winter (Boardwalk Empire) was set to write and executive produce the spin-off of Matt Reeves’ The Batman, but Winter left the series due to creative differences. Joe Barton (The Lazarus Project) then boarded the series, only to leave as well when the focus shifted to Arkham Asylum. The studio then tapped Antonio Campos (The Staircase) to take over, but it seems that the series just wasn’t meant to be. However, an individual with knowledge of the situation did tell Variety that a new Arkham Asylum project could reemerge down the road.

Matt Reeves confirmed in 2022 that the GCPD series had evolved to focus more on Arkham Asylum. “The GCPD thing, that story has kind of evolved,” Reeves said. “We’re actually now moving more into the realm of exactly what would happen in the world of Arkham coming off our movie and some of the (villain) characters, again in their origins. Almost leaning into the idea of, it’s like a horror movie or like a haunted house that is Arkham. The idea of, the way that Gotham is a character in the movie, I really want Arkham to exist as a character so you’d go into this environment and encounter these characters in a way that feels really fresh. So in our work on Gotham, that story started to evolve and it started feeling like, ‘Wait, we should really lean into this.’ And that’s kind of where that’s gone.” The series was developed before James Gunn and Peter Safran took control of DC Studios, and Gunn later took to social media to say that while the project was still in the works, it would be a DCU show rather than a direct spin-off of The Batman.

Arkham Asylum may be locked away for now, but we do have a Batman-related TV series on the way with The Penguin. Set in the aftermath of the events of The Batman, the upcoming series finds Colin Farrell reprising his role as Oswald Cobblepot. The series will debut on Max on September 8th. As for The Batman Part II, the film is slated for an October 2, 2026 release.