DC Studios Reportedly Passed on TV Shows for Major Batman Villains, And It’s Easy to See Why
In January of 2023, James Gunn planted a slew of flags in the sand about the future of DC Studios and the just-christened DCU, announcing a variety of projects that would make up their first wave of programming. Delays due to the writers’ and actors’ strikes put a pin in many of these titles, but in the three years since, many of the projects that were announced are out in the world. Superman debuted to critical acclaim and box office success, while Supergirl went the opposite direction. Movie projects like The Authority failed to get off the ground, while Clayface (a movie not included in the initial announcement) will premiere this fall.
Suffice to say, the initial slate of movies and TV shows that would make up the DCU’s “Chapter One” has been a mixed bag so far. Now, news has come down that two other projects previously confirmed by Gunn have officially been thrown out. According to a new report from The Ankler, the previously announced Amanda Waller spin-off series with Viola Davis and the Wonder Woman prequel show about Themyscira, Paradise Lost, are “dead” at DC Studios. Furthermore, the outlet makes a note that pitches were fielded for two other shows about Batman villains, Catwoman and Poison Ivy, but in the end, DC and HBO passed on both.
DC Passed on Catwoman and Poison Ivy TV Shows
What’s unclear about today’s news that TV shows for Poison Ivy and Catwoman were heard by DC Studios and HBO, and ultimately passed on, is twofold. The first is: Did DC decide to pass on these projects because they already have plans for the characters (be it in the DCU or in Matt Reeves’ The Batman universe), or did they pass on the projects because they would have created confusion about the varying universes?
No details were revealed about what writers or producers might have even pitched ideas centered around these characters, but rumors did circulate earlier this summer about Poison Ivy getting a series. The rumor was in itself quite surprising since there’s been no hint about that villain existing in the realm of Matt Reeves’ The Batman universe. As a result, giving her a spinoff without an appearance on the big screen might make the series seem lesser.
To that end, Zoë Kravitz already made her debut as Selina Kyle in Reeves’ 2022 movie (though she won’t return for the sequel), which would mean that a show about her character could slot in and tell a story that the big screen wasn’t able to do. But it once again begs the question: Would this planned Catwoman show have even been about Kravitz’s take on the character, or would it be the DCU version of Catwoman?
The confusion here is a problem that DC Studios clearly still hasn’t figured out. Plans were announced for a DCU version of Batman back in 2023 with The Brave and the Bold feature film, which would bring the Bat-Family to live-action for the first time, including Damien Wayne. Since then, Batman has been hinted at in the DCU and even shown in the Creature Commandos animated series, with plans for an animated Robin-centric movie also announced by DC Studios (to make things more confusing, it’s ALSO not canon to the DCU).
Reeves and Pattinson are finally on set filming The Batman Part II, though the sequel did just suffer yet another delay until 2028, meaning that the confusion around the Dark Knight and his rogues’ gallery in the DCU will only continue to make fans (and presumably, Gunn) scratch their heads.
