Antonio Campos was brought in as the writer and showrunner for the Arkham Asylum TV series in October 2022. But according to a recent report from Variety, this version of the series is not moving forward on Max anymore.
The project started back in July 2020 and went through several changes over the years. Campos joined the team to write a story set in Matt Reeves’ ‘The Batman’ universe.
DC Studios canceled the production for now, but an insider told Variety that other projects for the Gotham City asylum were still possible.
The Series Went Through Multiple Changes Since It Started
The Max show first kicked off to follow the Gotham Police Department and recruited Terrence Winter as showrunner in November 2020. Joe Barton later replaced Winter, but Warner Bros. also parted ways with him and changed the story’s direction.
Matt Reeves shared about the series in a 2022 chat with The Cyber Nerds:
“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.”
He explained:
“The idea, again the way that Gotham is a character in the movie, I really want Arkham to exist as a character. 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 [like], ‘Wait, we should really lean into this.’ And then that’s kinda where that’s gone.”
DC Is Not Done With ‘The Batman’ Universe
After James Gunn and Peter Safran took over DC Studios, the Arkham Asylum TV series’ setting moved from ‘The Batman’ world to the rebooted DCU.
Matt Reeves’ universe kept expanding, though. Reeves is working on ‘The Batman Part II’ following a release pushback from October 2025 to October 2026, and Max is getting ready to premiere a miniseries following Colin Ferrell’s The Penguin this September.
Meanwhile, Gunn and Safran’s DC Universe is moving forward. Its first theatrical release, ‘Superman,’ will come out on July 11, 2025. David Corenswet will star as the titular character.
