The Batman's First Spin-Off Series Was Almost Nothing Like The Penguin

Matt Reeves' Batman universe, now apparently termed the "Batman Epic Crime Saga," is finally starting to feel like a real thing with the debut of "The Penguin." The Colin Farrell-led HBO series has expanded the world first established in Reeves' 2022 "The Batman," following the malevolent, ambitious Ozwald Cobb as he embarks on a murderous mission for organized crime supremacy.

In "The Batman," Reeves seemingly got the memo about Gotham being as much of a character as the Dark Knight himself. Along with cinematographer Greig Fraser and production designer James Chinlund, Reeves crafted a grimy, gothic environment, dimly lit by the warm yet somehow foreboding glow of tungsten and suspended in a perpetual state of urban decay. This world is explored even more deeply in "The Penguin," which aside from taking us on a tour of Gotham's underworld, also acts as a fairly in-depth character study of the titular villain.

The result of this is a world that feels even more immersive and populated with real characters than it did in the impressively rendered frames of "The Batman." Farrell's sinister yet charming villain now has to sustain an entire eight episodes without Robert Pattinson's hero appearing (and no, Batman unequivocally does not show up in "The Penguin"). After the first episode, the show has already proved that Reeves' Gotham has other stories worthy of being told, so there's a good chance old Oz Cobb won't need the Caped Crusader to carry the series.

But as "The Penguin" gets going in earnest, fans of "The Batman" may be wondering about all the other spin-offs we've previously heard about. Where is the Arkham Asylum series that was announced? Or the GCPD police drama series? Well it seems the latter was originally planned as the first spin-off and it would have been very different from "The Penguin."

Even prior to the release of "The Batman," Matt Reeves was touting his concept for a series of interconnected movies and shows that together would form a comprehensive picture of his Gotham. In 2020, it was announced that a Gotham Police TV series was being developed as part of this project, with "The Wolf of Wall Street" writer Terence Winter overseeing the project alongside Reeves. The show was said to further explore the rampant corruption in Batman's home town and was promoted as "launching a new Batman universe across multiple platforms." Yet, here we are in 2024 and the show that has actually launched this new Batman universe is, of course, "The Penguin." So, what gives?

In 2022 it was announced that Matt Reeves and his production company 6th & Idaho signed a massive deal with Warner Bros. which seemed to bode well for the spin-off series of which the director had spoken in such excited terms. But somewhere along the way, the planned Gotham cop show was scrapped. The reason for this remains unclear, although Winter has now shed some light on his original vision for the series (which doesn't sound at all like Colin Farrell's show).

Speaking on The Playlist's "Bingeworthy" podcast, the "Boardwalk Empire" creator revealed that his idea was to make "a 1970s cop show" in the vein of Sidney Lumet's 1981 crime drama "Prince of the City." He continued:

"It was going to have that ['70s] feel. It was going to be a present-day cop who is like a third-generation Gotham City cop, you know, his grandfather, his dad, and, you know, and Gotham City was largely corrupt. And this is the guy we meet in the present day who's realizing that he's kind of on the wrong side. The Batman was somebody that lived in that world, but you never really saw him. And it was really all about the police department and sort of this guy."

Such a show seems like a no-brainer for the Reeves-verse, as a premium police procedural would not only fit nicely into the director's "epic crime saga" but seems so suited to the HBO brand. Alas, it appears that for now, the series has fallen by the wayside.

Terence Winter was a writer and executive producer for "The Sopranos," which seems as though it would make him uniquely suited to "The Penguin" — a series that is essentially "The Sopranos" with Batman villains. Instead, Winter was put to work on the ill-fated GCPD series, which according to the writer was taken "in a different direction" by Reeves following his initial work on the project. "I worked on it for a while," Winter explained, "and ultimately, you know, Matt wasn't feeling it. And I left." According to the former "Sopranos" writer, Reeves then brought in "the guy who did 'Tokyo Vice'" following his departure, but even then, "That didn't go anywhere." After that, Winter claims he "read about 'The Penguin.'"

It would seem from Winter's recollection, that he and Reeves just couldn't quite agree on a creative direction for their show, and the same is true of J. T. Rogers, creator of "Tokyo Vice" and likely the "guy" that Winter referenced. But there may well be more to the story, as it's no secret that the Batman Epic Crime Saga has been developing during a time of serious tumult for both Warner Bros. and DC.

After the DC Extended Universe experienced a string of all out box office failures — most notably with the flop of superheroic proportions, "The Flash" — the shared universe was officially shuttered. In its place, DC Studios was erected, with new co-heads James Gunn and Peter Safran at the helm. But throughout this entire debacle, Matt Reeves' Batman universe endured, with development on "The Penguin" and "The Batman Part II" continuing as Gunn and Safran geared up to relaunch DC's superhero universe with their "Gods and Monsters" series of films. It was during this time that the GCPD series was scrapped, and you've got to wonder whether Gunn's own vision for DC moving forward played some small role in the direction of Reeves' crime saga.

Beyond Terence Winter and Matt Reeves' struggles to find a direction for their Gotham cop series, higher-ups at HBO may have played a role in the show being shuttered before it had begun. In an Entertainment Weekly interview, Reeves revealed that "The execs at HBO offered their guidance. 'They were like, 'We like what you're doing, and we want to lean harder into the marquee characters.'" With that in mind, Winter's show about a "present-day cop who is like a third-generation Gotham City cop" doesn't seem to fit this concept of leaning into the "marquee characters." This surely had to be part of why the series was scrapped, and why, as Reeves revealed in his EW interview, elements of the show were folded into "The Penguin."

Meanwhile, it seems Winter himself isn't too worried about the loss of his GCPD series. The writer told The Playlist:

"It was Matt's idea originally, and, you know, more power to [him]. Sometimes, you're in sync creatively; sometimes, you're not. Or you get off on the wrong foot thinking, 'Oh, we should do this and go, Oh, you know what, this is just not really working [...] I think 'Penguin' is great. I agree with you. I think they did a great job."

Interestingly enough, Winter also suggested that Fox's "Gotham" series somewhat encroached on their own plans, telling the podcast, "The show [...] kind of stepped on the toes of our idea a little bit, even though ours was going to be totally very different." The truth as to why the GCPD show was scrapped likely comes down to a combination of factors then. But Reeves did confirm to EW that there is at least one more TV series he's "exploring," explaining that he and his team are "trying to figure out where are the areas that are best to explore."