HBO Max is continuing to build out its own DC universe.
The streamer is in early development on a series centered on Batman villain the Penguin. The potential show would be a spinoff of Warner Bros. feature film The Batman, which is due for a March 2022 release. Matt Reeves and Dylan Clark, who are directing and producing the film, will be executive producers on the project.
Colin Farrell plays the Penguin, a crime lord whose given name is Oswald Cobblepot, in The Batman and has been approached about continuing the role in the series. No deal is in place yet.
HBO Max declined comment.
Lauren LeFranc (YouTube’s Impulse, Agents of SHIELD) is attached to write a script for the TV project, which would focus on Cobblepot’s rise through the Gotham City underworld. Should the project make it to series, it would be the second direct spinoff of The Batman for HBO Max: A show centered on the Gotham City police scored a straight to series order in July 2020.
HBO Max also has several other DC shows in development, including a Green Lantern series from Greg Berlanti, a J.J. Abrams-produced Justice League Dark project and Peacemaker, a spinoff of The Suicide Squad centered on John Cena’s character. The streamer is also making DMZ, a limited series based on the DC/Vertigo comic by Brian Wood and Ricard Burchielli and executive produced by Ava DuVernay. HBO Max also airs Titans and Doom Patrol, which originated on WarnerMedia’s DC Universe platform.
Warner Bros. TV and DC Entertainment are producing the Penguin project. Reeves (via his 6th and Idaho banner) and Clark (via his eponymous production company) will executive produce.
