The Batman spin-off centered on the Gotham P.D. in development for HBO Max has found some new creative blood. Joe Barton, the creator of Girl/Haji, has been tapped as the new showrunner for the upcoming DC project. Previously, Terence Winter, of The Sopranos fame, has been on board to head-up the show, which will take place in the same universe as Matt Reeves’ upcoming movie. Now, it’s up to Barton to make the companion piece to Robert Pattinson’s debut as the Dark Knight.
According to multiple reports, Joe Barton has signed on as the new showrunner for the currently untitled series. Terence Winter was aboard the series when it was first announced in July of last year. But he departed a couple of months back over creative differences. With Matt Reeves on board as a key producer, the show was ordered straight to series for HBO Max and will exist in the same universe as The Batman. It will take place before the events of the movie within Batman’s first year of fighting crime in Gotham City. The movie, as Reeves has revealed previously, will take place during year two of the superhero’s exploits.
It’s a big gig for Joe Barton who has yet to tackle anything as high-profile as this during his career. Barton is best known for writing BBC and Netflix’s Girl/Haji, which debuted in 2019. Some of his other credits include the horror movie The Ritual, also made for Netflix, as well as Our World War and Humans. Barton also wrote the upcoming sci-fi movie Invasion, which stars Riz Ahmed and Octavia Spencer.
Plot details for the series are largely being kept under wraps for the time being. It is said that the show will further explore Gotham City as it exists in this universe. Robert Pattinson’s Bruce Wayne will exist outside of the established DCEU continuity. This will be part of the larger DC multiverse. It remains unclear if any actors from the movie will appear, such as Pattinson. Though that would make sense, given that they occupy the same space. Jeffrey Wright, who plays Jim Gordon in The Batman, would also seem like a logical choice. The show has been going under the working title “Gotham Central” but, officially speaking, it remains untitled. They can’t simply go with Gotham, since the Fox-produced show that ran for 100 episodes beat them to the punch.
This is part of a larger strategy at WarnerMedia and DC Films. The idea will be to have DC movies and spin-offs that can exist on HBO Max. The studio is looking to expand the scope of the universe in the hopes that they can bolster subscribers for the streaming service, which launched last year. Wonder Woman 1984 provided a big boost in the subscriber department, so shows like this may very well be able to do the same. There is no word yet on when the show is set to debut. The Batman is currently set to arrive in theaters on March 4, 2022. This news comes to us via The Hollywood Reporter.