When DC Studios was launched, Creature Commandos, Waller, Booster Gold, Lanterns, and Paradise Lost were all announced for HBO or HBO Max. Peacemaker Season 2 was an unexpected addition to the latter streaming platform, but three of the shows haven't panned out.
Waller has fallen by the wayside, Paradise Lost is supposedly in "extreme development," and Booster Gold has been through multiple creative teams.
It's not a complete disaster, but beyond the True Detective-inspired Lanterns, it's hard to imagine any of those shows fitting in on the same network as The Pitt and Task, for example. Now, it seems HBO has hit the pause button on James Gunn and Peter Safran's DCU TV plans.
Asked by Deadline if a "reset" is taking place for DC, Chairman and CEO of HBO and Max Content Casey Bloys said, "You know what I would say about that? It’s the same thing with Game of Thrones. People read about development, and they assume that those are greenlit shows, and they’re development."
"And everybody knows that development is just that — you’re trying things, you take big swings, not everything comes through. I would say our track record in DC, from Watchmen to Peacemaker to Penguin and now Lanterns, is pretty good," he continued. "We’re very selective. We’re careful about what we do, nothing has changed. You’ll read about development, but focus on what we’re greenlighting."
Lanterns has been a hit, but the response to Supergirl has surely made HBO a little wary about moving forward with a show like Booster Gold. The People vs. Gorilla Grodd is probably HBO Max-bound, similar to Peacemaker and Creature Commandos, neither of which were considered a good fit for HBO itself.
For what it's worth, Bloys sounds pleased with the upcoming comedy series. Asked if there's anything else in active development, he replied, "No, not right now, obviously you’ve got Gorilla Grodd, which I’m very happy about, doing something different, and I think it’s a really fun idea. They just started shooting."
It's not just DC either. On the Game of Thrones front, the HBO executive explained that nothing set in Westeros is currently in active development. "You mean in addition to the Emmy-nominated Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, which is coming out in the first half of ’27? And House of the Dragon? Besides that, no, nothing else."
As of now, the DCU slate doesn't stretch any further than 2027. We have Man of Tomorrow, The People vs. Gorilla Grodd, and Creature Commandos Season 2, all of which come from Gunn.
Stay tuned for updates as we have them.