Batman Series Canceled At HBO Max
Yet another DC Universe project has been axed over at HBO Max, and Batman got the big chop this time around.
Brace yourself for more bad news if you are a Batman or HBO Max fan. In the latest surge of crushing dreams, Warner Bros. Discovery has axed six more projects, among them the upcoming animated feature, Batman: Caped Crusader. The project joins Merry Little Batman, The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie, Bye Bye Bunny: A Looney Tunes Musical, Did I Do That to The Holidays: A Steve Urkel Story, and The Amazing World of Gumball: The Movie. While most of the projects will continue production in hopes of shopping them to other networks in a seemingly last-ditch effort to see them air, HBO Max seems more negative than positive these days. As most of the canceled projects seem to focus on the DC Universe, it hurts to be a fan of the properties and watch new CEO David Zaslav continue axing the comic book world.
The report by Variety details the newest rash of cancelations, led by the heartbreaking loss of the latest animated series in the Batman saga. Batman: Caped Crusader was to be a reimagining of the Batman mythology and build on the immensely popular Batman: The Animated Series that ran from 1992 to 1995. The series set up an entire world of animated series that included Superman: The Animated Series, Justice League, and Justice League Unlimited, creating a shared universe concept 15 years before the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The cancelation ended any attempt at recapturing a new and updated shared universe.
One of the most anticipated aspects of this animated series was the involvement of three big names. The first was the return of legendary Batman voice actor Kevin Conroy. Conroy voiced the Caped Crusader from 1992 until as recently as 2022. After three decades of voicing Bruce Wayne/Batman, Conroy was on board to voice the elder Thomas Wayne in Batman: Caped Crusader, presumably passing the torch to a younger actor.
Also involved in the project was Bruce Timm. Timm has been one of the driving forces behind the animated success of the DC Universe for 30 years. He served as the co-creator of series like Batman: The Animated Series and all the successive properties. He also co-created many characters, including one of the most popular in DC, Harley Quinn. Batman may not have taken flight following Tim Burton’s Batman without him. Finally, the involvement of producers Matt Reeves and J.J. Abrams showed the series was dedicated to bringing Batman: Caped Crusader to a new set of fans. Reeves succeeded with the character with his film starring Robert Pattinson, The Batman. And J.J. Abrams, a self-identified comic book fan, would have brought passion to the project along with his ability to rejuvenate properties like Mission Impossible, Star Wars, and Star Trek.
While this is devastating news for Batman fans, there are still a few Batman properties coming for fans to thirst over. Ben Affleck is set to return for Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, and the sequel to Juaquin Pheonix’s Joker is moving forward with Lady Gaga as (possibly) Harley Quinn. Even though we are still getting plenty of content, we’ll just have to hope another streaming service picks up Batman: Caped Crusader later.
