WarnerMedia is betting big on the Dark Knight with an upcoming series set in the universe of Matt Reeves’ upcoming film The Batman, but they can do better.
DC Comics’ Dark Knight has a new movie on the way from director Matt Reeves, but The Batman isn’t the only upcoming project in the works tied to WarnerMedia’s world-famous vigilante. A new series following the Gotham City Police Department, set in the same universe as Reeves’ film, will also debut on the company’s HBO Max streaming service.
On the surface, the decision to return to the Batman well makes plenty of sense — even if the notion of launching a new police procedural series seems more than a little tone-deaf at the present time. Batman is one of WarnerMedia’s most popular characters, after all, with two successful solo movie franchises and a few Oscars — and Oscar nominations — for projects tied to the Dark Knight himself and his most infamous foe, Joker.
But for all of the wins in Batman’s multimedia record, there are plenty of big flops, too. And by focusing on the Dark Knight once again, DC is neglecting its other heroes — some of whom have been DC’s biggest commercial and critical successes.
Batman’s most recent incarnation, portrayed by Ben Affleck in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and Justice League, played a key role in two of Warner Bros. Pictures’ biggest disappointments to come out of its superhero-themed DC Extended Universe. The response to those films was so bad, in fact, that it pushed Affleck to exit the role (and the director’s chair) well ahead of schedule, forcing the studio to scrap its plans for a new solo franchise and paving the way for Reeves’ upcoming reboot film.
Batman-themed spinoffs don’t exactly have a great record on the big or small screen, either.
Fox’s recent Gotham series barely kept its head above the water ratings-wise for four of its five seasons, while this year’s Birds of Prey movie earned positive reviews but failed to fill theater seats — a problem exacerbated by the widespread, pandemic-fueled theater lockdowns that began a month after its premiere.
The jury is still out on Batwoman, the new CW series that had its first season cut short due to the coronavirus pandemic, but earned positive reviews before getting a second-season renewal in January.
With such a mixed bag of recent Batman material, one can’t help wondering why WarnerMedia is overlooking the golden opportunities presented by the rest of its DC superheroes.
