JJ Abrams' Batman TV show finds a new home after HBO Max cancellation

Batman: Caped Crusader, a new animated series from JJ Abrams, has been picked up by Amazon Studios after its HBO Max cancellation.

The TV show, which is billed as a reinterpretation of the Dark Knight's mythos, has been given a two-season order for Prime Video, Amazon's streaming platform, according to Variety.

Batman: Caped Crusader was initially set to debut on HBO Max, Warner Bros. Discovery's (WBD) main streamer and the studio that owns the rights to all things Batman. The animated show, which was being developed and executively produced by Abrams, The Batman director Matt Reeves, and Batman: The Animated Series co-creator Bruce Timm, was given a straight-to-series order in May 2021.

However, Batman: Caped Crusader was one of many in-development HBO Max projects cancelled by WBD – with the studio citing cost cutting measures for its axing – in August 2022. Now, it seems Amazon's streaming service will become the series' new home, despite Netflix, Hulu, and Apple TV Plus all vying to add the animated offering to their back catalogs.

It's unclear when Batman: Caped Crusader will take flight on Prime Video. WBD and Amazon Studios haven't signed off on the deal yet (per The Hollywood Reporter) and, with the show in active development, it could be some time before it arrives. Still, we know its first season will comprise 10 episodes, that comic book writer Ed Brubaker is part of its creative team (Brubaker serves as Timm's right-hand man on the series), and that it'll build on the story beats and animation style seen in Batman: The Animated Series.

The Bat is back in the big time

Michael Keaton's Batman will appear in DCEU movie The Flash. (Image credit: Warner Bros. Pictures)

It's a good time to be a Batman fan. After a few years of uncertainty over the character's live-action and animated future – namely, Ben Affleck's decent but somewhat controversial run as the Dark Knight – there are multiple Batman movies and TV shows in development across many WBD departments.

For starters, The Batman Part II – a sequel to Reeves' critically-acclaimed film about the billionaire vigilante – is in development. It's currently set for release in October 2025, and will be one of the Elseworlds stories that exist alongside James Gunn and Peter Safran's reimagined DC Cinematic Universe (DCU). The new co-heads of DC Studios confirmed as much when Gunn announced the movie and TV lineup for DCU Chapter One, aka Gods and Monsters, in late January.

The Penguin, an HBO Max spin-off of The Batman starring Colin Farrell's Oswald Cobblepot, is also on the way. It's currently being filmed ahead of a late 2023/early 2024 release and exists in Matt Reeves' Batman Elseworlds universe, too. Reeves is also developing an Arkham Asylum spin-off series set in the same universe. Expect both shows to make it onto our best HBO Max shows list once they're released.

Batman is also getting a movie set in the DCU. (Image credit: DC Studios)

Despite Reeves moving ahead with his own Batman-Verse, Gunn and Safran will also set a separate Batman film in the DCU, which will be DC Studios' main superhero franchise moving forward. Called The Brave and the Bold, the DCU's first Batman flick will adapt Grant Morrison's comic series of the same name, which tells the story of Bruce Wayne/Batman and his sociopathic son Damian, who ends up adopting the Robin superhero alias. The Brave and the Bold is one of TechRadar's most eagerly anticipated DCU movies – find out why in our most exciting DCU movies and TV shows guide.

We'll get not one, but two Batmen in The Flash movie, which speeds into theaters on June 16, too. Ben Affleck's DC Extended Universe (DCEU) version of the character will appear first, before Michael Keaton's beloved Dark Knight takes center stage once Barry Allen's time-traveling (and multiverse-altering) plan goes awry. 

Add in Joker: Folie à Deux, the sequel to Todd Phillips' multi-award-winning 2019 movie Joker, which is another Elseworlds production and stars Joaquin Phoenix as Batman's most famous antagonist, and Batman fans will have plenty of content to enjoy in the coming years.

For more Batman and DC coverage, find out how to watch the Batman movies in order and read up on the best Batman movies ranked. Additionally, check out how to watch the DC movies in order, or see which DCEU films made it onto our best HBO Max movies list.

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