‘The Batman’ Spinoff Series Finds Writer

It seems that HBO’s Arkham Asylum series has finally found its showrunner. Antonio Campos will direct, produce, and write for the series. This is one of two series in development that is being spun out of Matt Reeves’ The Batman. The other series in the works is a show starring Colin Farrell as his version of the Batman villain, the Penguin.

While it’s exciting to hear that there’s yet another Batman series in the works, it’s a little difficult not to be wary. This Arkham show was initially conceived as a project about the Gotham City police department. Unfortunately, the GCPD show quickly ran into a few obstacles. Terence Winter was set to write and direct the show but left due to creative differences with the studio. Following that, Joe Barton was brought in to fill his shoes. After that, the studio decided that Barton wasn’t the right fit and cut him from the project. Out of that grew an idea for a series about Gotham’s infamous Arkham Asylum.

Campos himself has worked with HBO before, on the true crime series The Staircase. He’s also worked on other projects, notably Afterschool, Simon Killer, Christine, and The Devil All the Time. Given his history of working with darker subject matter, he seems like a good fit for the Arkham series. If Matt Reeves described it as “like a horror movie or a haunted house that is Arkham” we can expect some spooky stuff.