The bodies are still hitting the floor as Warner Brothers Discovery’s new CEO, David Zaslav, continues to gut HBO Max of both current and upcoming projects. The next on the chopping block at HBO Max is a slate of six animated series, with the most promising being Batman: Caped Crusader. However, these shows still have a chance as they are still in production, just not for HBO Max. Warner Bros. Animation will be shopping the projects around for other platforms to scoop up.
That might feel a little odd for Batman: Caped Crusader considering that HBO Max is the de facto home to almost all DC content, but DC characters are living on other streaming services and networks as well. The series itself seemed incredibly exciting for fans of the original Batman: The Animated Series. It worked as a reimagining of the hero and came from Bruce Timm, the creator of The Animated Series, with J.J. Abrams, Matt Reeves, and Ed Brubaker also attached as executive producers. We didn’t know much about the show, but Timm was promising something as groundbreaking as Batman: The Animated Series was, which would be pretty amazing, with a noir take on the Dark Knight.
Animation and children’s content seem to be one of the hardest-hit areas by Zaslav’s rampage. The vast majority of shows recently announced to be leaving HBO Max fell into that category, and the five other series that are being shopped are all animated as well. They include four movies — Merry Little Batman, The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie, Bye Bye Bunny: A Looney Tunes Musical, and The Amazing World of Gumball — and a holiday special called Did I Do That to the Holidays? A Steve Urkel Story. Sorry to all those Family Matters fans out there.
