No, ‘Doom Patrol’ Is Not Being Released in 2018

Fans were in for a surprise when news hit that the Titans spinoff Doom Patrol would be premiering on DC Universe before the year ends, spinning out of New York Comic Con‘s big event for the new streaming service.

Unfortunately, some wires got crossed and Warner Bros. revealed the series will not be coming out this December, but it is still on track for its planned 2019 release.

Newsarama reported that Robotman actor Brendan Fraser revealed the series would premiere on December 12th, and unless DC Universe is trying to pull a fast one, that is not actually the case. They quickly updated their report to confirm Doom Patrol would premiere in 2019.

It’s unlikely the series would be ready before the end of the year, as Doom Patrol is still rounding out its cast while filming takes place. They only just announced White Collar actor Matt Bomer would be joining the series as Negative Man, alongside Fraser and Alan Tudyk as the villain Mr. Nobody.

The series will be spinning out of the events of Titans, with the characters making their debut in the fourth episode of that series. Based on the violence and harsh language of the first DC Universe live-action series, it seems like Doom Patrol will follow suit.

Based on the early reactions to the first episodes of Titans, it sounds like fans will also react well to Doom Patrol if it can maintain that standard of quality.

It was starting to look like the streaming platform was building its own shared universe, with other series like Stargirl and Swamp Thing announced to be in the works. But Geoff Johns stressed that these series won’t be overtly connected with a mandate to make them apart of one world.

“It is much like the multiverse in the comics, and I don’t think there’s any hard, fast rules saying that Stargirl and Swamp Thing aren’t in the same universe as Titans and Doom Patrol,” Johns said to ComicBook.com. “Right now I’m just working on Stargirl and trying to make Stargirl the best Stargirl TV show it can possibly be. Whether it connects to another show down the line is open-ended.”

This echoes what Swamp Thing series writer Gary Dauberman recently said to /Film.

“I think the opportunity is there if we want to [connect the series] but it’s not mandated,” Dauberman told /Film. “I think we could if, in the future, it organically works itself out to be that way. I haven’t discussed that with the guys from Titans and they haven’t discussed it with us.”

Fans can expect to see Doom Patrol and more DC Universe series in 2019. Titans premieres on October 12th.