MAX: Recent WB Executive Interview Has Animation Fans Worried

Warner Bros has made some big changes to its animation roster in recent years, and many of them have been quite controversial for fans of big animated franchises. To start 2025, the streaming platform MAX dropped a handful of major Cartoon Network and WB animated series that were beloved by many. The list included Teen Titans, The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy, Green Lantern: The Animation Series, and The Looney Tunes Show to name a few. Unfortunately, a recent interview with a Warner Bros Executive has many fans online worried that these cuts might only be the beginning thanks to said executive breaking down the company’s priorities.

In a recent interview with Puck, HBO and Max Content CEO Casey Bloys discussed the mission statement for the streaming service. While he went into detail regarding priorities, some fans were nervous regarding Bloys’ lack of stating that animation was one of them, “MAX has been out in the marketplace for a while. We did an assessment of what subscribers were watching. We did a lot of research and focus groups. The things subscribers was from us are HBO programming, scripted dramas, comedies, documentaries, the pay-on licensing window movies, library movies, and basically the Warner Bros. TV library.”

MAX vs Netflix

In discussing MAX’s more narrow focus than its competitors, Bloys didn’t hold back, “Everybody wanted to be the next Netflix, and it’s so incredibly expensive to do that. Netflix lost a lot of money for a long time in order to get to the place they are. We have accepted and understand that the majority of our subscribers at this point are going to have Netflix, and they’re going to have Amazon. If anybody is going to give Netflix a run for their money in terms of being the ‘everything’ streamer, it’ll be Amazon. They’ve got the reach, they’ve got the financial firepower.”

Primarily, MAX has received original animated content thanks to Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim, which has released major outings such as Common Side Effects and Lazarus in recent days. While Harley Quinn remained a big animated series for the platform, fans are left wondering if it will be renewed for future seasons as the latest finale felt like one that wrapped the story of Harley and Ivy.

What Max Might Lose in 2025

Later this year, many series are set to hit their “license expiration dates” on MAX. While this doesn’t necessarily mean the properties will be stricken from the platform, it might not be good news either as the Warner Bros platform might decide to not re-up the series. As it stands, the series include Tom And Jerry, The Flintstones, The Jetsons, The Smurfs, Scooby-Doo, The Powerpuff Girls, Courage The Cowardly Dog, Adventure Time, Robot Chicken, Samurai Jack, and many Adult Swim classics. Fingers crossed that these series will remain on MAX but we’ll keep you posted one way or the other.

Want to stay in the loop on Warner Bros’ animation roster? Follow along with Team Anime on ComicBook.com for the latest updates on MAX’s animation and hit me up directly @EVComedy to talk all things comics and anime.

Via Puck