Gotham PD Spin-off TV Show

[johnnygobbs]

https://www.superherohype.com/tv/483488-hbo-max-orders-the-batman-spinoff-series-following-the-gotham-pd

'Next year, director Matt Reeves will bring DC's Dark Knight back to the big screen in The Batman. However, it appears that Reeves plans to expand his world of Gotham City into television as well. HBO Max has announced that Reeves is teaming up with producer Dylan Clark, and Boardwalk Empire creator Terrence Winter to create a new TV series that shares continuity with The Batman. Although the new show doesn't have a title, it will be be "an original DC drama set in the Gotham City police department."

According to HBO Max, the new series will also "build upon the motion picture's examination of the anatomy of corruption in Gotham City, ultimately launching a new Batman universe across multiple platforms. The news comes just a year after Gotham ended its five season run on Fox. It's also seems likely that the new series will take its cues from Ed Brubaker, Greg Rucka, and Michael Lark's Gotham Central comic from 2002. That comic book series shared the same essential premise that Reeves and Winter will explore.

"This is an amazing opportunity," said Reeves in a statement. "Not only to expand the vision of the world I am creating in the film, but to explore it in the kind of depth and detail that only a longform format can afford — and getting to work with the incredibly talented Terence Winter, who has written so insightfully and powerfully about worlds of crime and corruption, is an absolute dream."

"Our collaboration with Warner Bros. and DC allows us to elaborate and grow fan connections across these powerful brands for years to come," added HBO Max's Kevin Reilly. "This is Batman as most audiences have never seen before. And we know fans will want to spend more time in this new world inspired by the film."

The new series doesn't have a start date yet. But presumably casting will begin later this year.'

This sounds exactly like the show I expected "Gotham" to be.  I hope this one finally lives up to those expectations.

[Silver Nemesis]

This sounds exactly like the show I expected "Gotham" to be.  I hope this one finally lives up to those expectations.

The one red flag for me is the report of it being a prequel to the Reeves film. If so, it's going to be yet another Batman-without-Batman series. A proper Gotham Central show, taking place after Batman is established, would be better IMO. Batman doesn't need to appear in the series, but he should exist somewhere in the universe. Otherwise it seems silly when major villains turn up before Batman has made his debut. Unless of course they're just going to focus on gangsters rather than 'freaks', in which case it could work.

Still, Reeves is involved and the show is directly connected to the new Pattinson movie, so I'm hopeful they'll pull it off. If nothing else, it should be an improvement on Gotham.

[johnnygobbs]

This sounds exactly like the show I expected "Gotham" to be.  I hope this one finally lives up to those expectations.

The one red flag for me is the report of it being a prequel to the Reeves film. If so, it's going to be yet another Batman-without-Batman series. A proper Gotham Central show, taking place after Batman is established, would be better IMO. Batman doesn't need to appear in the series, but he should exist somewhere in the universe. Otherwise it seems silly when major villains turn up before Batman has made his debut. Unless of course they're just going to focus on gangsters rather than 'freaks', in which case it could work.

Still, Reeves is involved and the show is directly connected to the new Pattinson movie, so I'm hopeful they'll pull it off. If nothing else, it should be an improvement on Gotham.

Thanks for your comments. 

I wouldn't like to see too many of the 'freaks' within Batman's Rogues Gallery established in a prequel TV show, although we could see the Falcone, Zucco and Maroni crime families make some appearances, and maybe even Rupert Thorne, who has yet to make an appearance in live-action.  Perhaps even a cameo for Joe Chill, whilst also keeping him as a shadowy, anonymous figure.

That said, I am ambivalent about the idea that Batman 'created' his worst enemies, because it rather undermines Batman's heroism.  If he was the catalyst for the emergence of the 'freaks', doesn't that unambiguously demonstrate that Batman is more of a hindrance than a help to his city?

Although I have mixed feelings about Joker, I have to say, as a side note, that I rather like the idea that it is The Joker that created Batman, and not Batman who created The Joker (Batman '89 of course, has it both ways).

[thecolorsblend]

The one red flag for me is the report of it being a prequel to the Reeves film. If so, it's going to be yet another Batman-without-Batman series. A proper Gotham Central show, taking place after Batman is established, would be better IMO. Batman doesn't need to appear in the series, but he should exist somewhere in the universe. Otherwise it seems silly when major villains turn up before Batman has made his debut. Unless of course they're just going to focus on gangsters rather than 'freaks', in which case it could work.

Still, Reeves is involved and the show is directly connected to the new Pattinson movie, so I'm hopeful they'll pull it off. If nothing else, it should be an improvement on Gotham.

It could be that only the first season is a prequel to the movie where subsequent seasons will be set after the movie?

[The Dark Knight]

I don't have any interest in this right now. A Keaton comeback also seems like something to file away and forget about even if it gets announced. ZSJL is already in the can, with not really much more work needed to finish things, and we WILL be able to see it ON THE DAY THEY SAY IT WILL BE RELEASED. Same goes for the (I hope) soon to be announced Batman game. They're my priorities. I'll refrain from getting political, but if they keep delaying content like WW84 and keep delaying filming of new movies just f***ing forget about them, then. Let's all just turn the world into a Mad Max hellscape, live in fear and kill ourselves.

[Silver Nemesis]

I wouldn't like to see too many of the 'freaks' within Batman's Rogues Gallery established in a prequel TV show, although we could see the Falcone, Zucco and Maroni crime families make some appearances, and maybe even Rupert Thorne, who has yet to make an appearance in live-action.  Perhaps even a cameo for Joe Chill, whilst also keeping him as a shadowy, anonymous figure.

That's one way to go. Another would be to feature pre-disfigured versions of classic villains, like Joker/Red Hood or Roman Sionis. Though that approach would be too similar to Gotham and would run the risk of stepping on the toes of the movie side of things. Most people who go to see the movies won't want to feel obligated to watch the TV show, but fans that invest their interest in the TV series will want its content to feel canonical to the films. It's going to be difficult striking a balance between making the show its own thing while also ensuring it's a worthwhile addition to the movies' lore. To begin with, it would probably be best to just focus on police corruption and organised crime.

It could be that only the first season is a prequel to the movie where subsequent seasons will be set after the movie?

That would be great, so long as the connective tissue linking the TV series to the films is meaningful. What I don't want is for it to end up like Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. AOS was actually a pretty good show once it found its footing, but its relationship to the movies was always a one-way street. Consequently it ended up being completely superfluous to the big screen side of the MCU, even though it did feature occasional appearances by Nick Fury and other cinematic players.

I'm hoping that won't happen here. Since Reeves is involved, the connectivity between the films and TV show should be more substantial. Then again Joss Whedon was involved with the creation of AOS, and look how that turned out. Another good example of an obsolete spin-off was Batman: Gotham Knight, which was meant to link Batman Begins and The Dark Knight but ultimately ended up being a meaningless addendum to one and an unnecessary prequel to the other.

AOS is better than Gotham Knight and stands on its own merits as a worthwhile series, but it would have been better if the cinematic side of the MCU had shown it more respect by at least acknowledging its existence. Right now it's far too early to tell if this Gotham PD show will meet a similar fate, but based on what little we know so far I can't say I'm too hyped about it.

[The Dark Knight]

When this thing actually gets made, and when we get a better feel of what Reeves is doing, I'll be able to summon excitement. I think it has potential in terms of expanding upon the world The Batman won't show, as it picks up a year or two into Batman's career. They need to take that approach, IMO.

Before we knew what Gotham would be, I had an idea of batarangs being found at crime scenes, and officers having close calls/missed encounters with Batman. I don't think Pattinson would appear, but if they could get him for cameo appearances near the end of a series that would be really beneficial. Same goes with Wright's Gordon.

This show could be really beneficial if it maintains the same atmosphere of whatever Reeves aims for, and if it truly feels like it belongs to that world. I'm not going to dismiss it, but there's a way to go yet.

[thecolorsblend]

Midnight's Edge takes some time to talk about the TV show. Between branding, cost-cutting and market-building, there are a lot of concerns going into the TV show that actually make it a sensible thing to do.

Again, I see AT&T's hand at work here. This is a multi-pronged business strategy so intelligent that I simply cannot credit WB with ever having the brains or the balls able to develop it.

For those who came in late, I have said time and again that AT&T is a COMPANY in the purest sense of the word. They know nothing and care even less for the Hollywood cult. What they're interested in is pursuing business opportunities wherever they can to generate revenue (and, ideally, oodles and oodles of profit).

My contention is that the film business in America personified by Hollywood is not an "industry", as such. "Hollyweird" isn't just an Internet meme. It's been standard operating procedure in that town for a century now.

But since AT&T exists outside of that bizarro system, they're unconcerned about Hollywood politics. They're not developing ZSJL out of affection for the fans. They want profit. If they think that giving us ZSJL will earn them buckets of profit, they're eager to oblige. But this ain't no charity, fam.

To tie this back with TV show, I can't help wondering if AT&T is doing this to cover their bet. If there's sufficient market potential, I'm sure they'd be open to resurrecting the Snyderverse. If not, I imagine that they'll try to forge ahead with a Snyderless DCEU.

But if all else fails, why not use Batman (their most bankable property) starring Pattinson as the cornerstone for a new shared universe?

It's good business sense to figure out as many paths to victory (e.g., profit) as possible while eliminating as many paths to defeat (e.g., loss) as possible.

Assuming I'm right about all this, AT&T is playing this thing beautifully.

[The Dark Knight]

Make of this what you will:

While on the surface it appears that it won't be connected too closely to the movie, we've now heard from our sources – the same ones who told us that Justice League Dark and Green Lantern shows are coming to HBO Max – that Warner Bros. want Pattinson to appear in the series in some capacity, most likely in a cameo role.

With The Batman taking place during the Dark Knight's second year as a costumed vigilante, the HBO Max project's status as a prequel means that Batman himself definitely won't feature, but Bruce Wayne could still be involved as we're told that at some point during the first season, there'll be a time jump to catch up to the events of Reeves' film. Which is presumably how Pattinson can factor in.

https://wegotthiscovered.com/tv/robert-pattinson-role-hbo-maxs-gotham-police-series/

A cameo type role would be excellent if it can be arranged. And really, if the powers that be want it, they'll get it. It'd be a big hook to get people watching. I also like the idea of a time jump. Ideally, the show will exist between the events of the movies, filling in gaps and setting them up. Season One as a prequel to the first film, with Season Two occurring after The Batman, and so on. Or running parallel to the events of the films, ala Enter The Matrix. All ideas would actually be really cool.   

[Silver Nemesis]

I've always thought it would be interesting to have a Batman adaptation where you never see the private Bruce Wayne. All you would see is Batman and the playboy Bruce Wayne, but never the real person connecting the two personas. The closest we've come to this in the past was the Gotham Tonight web series that took place in the Nolanverse. They'd often mention Batman, and would occasionally show blurry footage of him, but Bruce Wayne always appeared separately in his playboy persona. For example, at the 14:25 mark.

They should do something like this with Pattinson on the Gotham PD series. Have him cameo as Batman and the public Bruce Wayne, but never the private Bruce. That way we see him as the people of Gotham do - as two separate and very different people.