Super-producer Greg Berlanti, best known to DC fans for helping to shepherd the Arrowverse into existence, will bring a new take on the DC Universe to HBO Max with Strange Adventures. While persistent rumors have suggested a new series by that title might be coming, those rumors centered on the idea of Adam Strange. As far as we can tell, Strange — a cosmic hero from DC’s silver age who most recently appeared on Krypton, played by Supernatural alum Shaun Sipos — will not appear in Strange Adventures, which will instead be an anthology series that introduces a wide variety of DC characters to the streaming platform’s audience.
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With Strange Adventures, HBO Max (which will also carry new episodes of Doom Patrol and are launching a Green Lantern-inspired series from Berlanti as well) seems to be developing something along the lines of what DC Universe and Blue Ribbon Media are doing with Bizarro TV. Given that Berlanti’s rise to comics-on-TV superstardom started at The CW, it’s also worth noting that the Warner Bros. TV project feels like a DC Comics twist on The Twilight Zone, a series recently revived at CBS All Access, owned by Warners’ CW ownership partner (and ComicBook.com’s parent company), CBS. In fact, Twilight Zone veteran Selwyn Seyfu Hinds serves as a producer on the show.
“Both of these original DC properties we’ll be creating for HBO Max will be unlike anything seen on television,” Berlanti said of Strange Adventures and the Green Lantern show. “An anthology series of cautionary tales set in a world where superpowers exist, and, in what promises to be our biggest DC show ever made, we will be going to space with a Green Lantern television series, but I can’t reveal any more about that just yet.”
Berlanti clearly has the confidence of Warner Bros. Television and its parent company, AT&T. In addition to the Green Lantern series which, as he noted, is likely to be one of the most expensive superhero shows ever made, The CW yesterday announced that they are developing a new TV series with Berlanti that will feature Tyler Hoechlin’s Superman. The move marks the first time that Superman has headlined a show since, arguably, Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman. Smallville starred Clark Kent and, while it laid the groundwork for all of the DC TV to come after it, the series steadfastly avoided being a “Superman show,” with a no-tights, no-flights rule. It seems from behind-the-scenes photos that series star Tom Welling will remain sans tights in the upcoming “Crisis on Infinite Earths” crossover event, in which he will reprise his Clark alongside both Tyler Hoechlin and Brandon Routh, who have been spotted on set in Superman costumes.
Per the official description, Strange Adventures is “a DC Super Hero anthology series executive produced by Berlanti, will feature characters from across the DC canon. This one-hour drama series will explore close-ended morality tales about the intersecting lives of mortals and superhumans. Strange Adventures is based on the characters from DC and is produced by Berlanti Productions in association with Warner Bros. Television. Berlanti, Sarah Schechter (Arrow, The Flash, Supergirl, Titans, Doom Patrol), and showrunner/writer John Stephens (Gotham, Gossip Girl) serve as executive producers. Charlie Huston (Powers, Gotham) is a co-executive producer, Brigitte Hales (Once Upon a Time) is a producer, and Selwyn Seyfu Hinds (Dominique Laveau: Voodoo Child, The Twilight Zone) is a consulting producer.
