This past August was a rough time for HBO Max subscribers, particularly the ones who are fans of DC Comics media. First, the Batgirl movie was scrapped despite already having been shot, and a few weeks later, it was announced that streaming platform was also dropping the animated series Batman: Caped Crusader. However, while Batgirl will never see the light of day, Caped Crusader remained in production, and the upcoming DC TV show may have found its new streaming home.
While speaking at the U.K. TV conference Content London, Warner Bros. TV head Channing Dungey informed Variety and other outlets covering the event that WB is closing a deal with Amazon for animated DC content. Dungey didn’t outright mention Batman: Caped Crusader to the crows, but assuming this deal goes through, this now seems like the best option on where the animated series will end up since the original plan to put it on HBO Max is no longer on the table. The executive continued:
One of the interesting things that’s exciting for me at this moment, the approach of the previous management was much more like ‘Everything has to stay in house, we don’t want anything to go outside.’ David Zaslav has been much more open to our exploring all of our animated IP and being able to do it on different platforms. Certainly HBO Max is going to be our first stop but we’re already in the process of closing a big deal with Amazon that’s going to feature some of our DC-branded content in animation.
If Warner Bros. and Amazon come to an arrangement, this would be yet another superhero media-centric deal that the latter company has worked out with a separate party. For one thing, Amazon will be home to the upcoming Spider-Verse TV shows from Sony, including Silk: Spider Society. Amazon is also currently has the superhero TV shows The Boys and Invincible, as well as the recently-released Sylvester Stallone movie Samaritan, but a Batman show on the service would be an especially big deal. More importantly, if you’re a DC animation fan, you’ll want to make sure you’re subscribed to Amazon so you can continue following along with these particular media offerings from this corner of the superhero media market.
Although specific plot details are being kept close to the chest, among the things we do know about Batman: Caped Crusader is that it’s a reimagining of the title hero’s mythology that will explore his early years fighting crime, before he became tight with Commissioner James Gordon. Batman: The Animated Series’ Bruce Timm is putting together Caped Crusader with The Batman’s Matt Reeves and Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ J.J. Abrams and Gotham City Central writer Ed Brubaker. Caped Crusader is also utilizing an advanced animation technique, so while one shouldn’t expect the characters to look drastically different than their traditional depictions, it does sound like they’ll have a unique flair.
If/when it’s confirmed that Batman: Caped Crusader is going to Amazon, or when it’s announced what other animated DC projects will be housed there, we’ll let you know. In the meantime, HBO Max is still your best destination for not only viewing numerous animated DC series, but the DC movies in order, both animated and live-action, too.
