DC’s Arkham Asylum TV Show Not Moving Forward at Max

Robert Pattinson in ‘The Batman’

Warner Bros. / Courtesy Everett Collection

The gates to Arkham Asylum are closing — for now. A DC show for Max centering on the hospital populated by Batman villains is no longer moving forward, at least in its current iteration, The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed.

The latest version of the show had The Staircase‘s Antonio Campos set as showrunner and The Batman filmmaker Matt Reeves as executive producer. While that take is no longer in the works, it’s possible a different version could emerge down the road.

The proposed series went through years of development and changed direction several times. Originally, the show was set in the world of the Reeves-directed The Batman movie and focused on the Gotham Police Department, taking place a year before the movie. Reeves teamed with Boardwalk Empire creator Terence Winter for a show announced in July 2020, but Winter departed several months later, with Joe Barton set as the new showrunner in January 2021.

Eventually, that idea morphed into something else, with Reeves stating in March 2022 the show would now focus on Arkham. Campos was reported as the new showrunner in in October 2022, and just weeks later, James Gunn and Peter Safran took over as the bosses of the newly formed DC Studios. The show was reconfigured as part of the new DC Universe, rather than the separate universe that is home to The Batman (and its upcoming sequel), as well as The Penguin spinoff show.

Reeves is working on the script for The Batman Part II, due out in October 2026, while the Colin Farrell starring Penguin arrives on in September of this year. Variety first reported the news.