J.J. Abrams and Bruce Timm's Batman: Caped Crusader Series Canceled at HBO Max

HBO Max has cancelled six more animated projects, including Batman: Caped Crusader. On Monday, TVLine reported that the series, coming from Batman: The Animated Series' Bruce Timm along with J.J. Abrams, is no longer being produced for HBO Max. It, and the other five projects, will reportedly continue production as they are shopped to other outlets.

Batman: Caped Crusader was given a series order from HBO Max and Cartoon Network 15 months ago and was set to be a reimagining of the Batman mythology. In addition to Timm and Abrams, Matt Reeves and Ed Brubaker also serve as executive producers on the project and was previously described as "Utilizing state-of-the-art animation techniques and technologies available, Batman: Caped Crusader will once again reinvent Batman and his iconic rogue's gallery with sophisticated storytelling, nuanced characters, and intense action sequences all set in a visually striking world."

The series would mark Timm's long-awaited return to Batman animation on television, after he spearheaded the Emmy-winning Batman: The Animated Series. For Reeves and Abrams, the collaboration is significant on multiple levels — for one thing, the pair been friends and collaborators since they were 13 years old, working on projects such as Felicity and Cloverfield. On another level, both recently signed landmark deals with WarnerMedia — Abrams for an overall deal, and Reeves for an overall television deal.

"We are beyond excited to be working together to bring this character back, to tell engrossing new stories in Gotham City," Timm, Abrams, and Reeves said in a statement when the series was announced. "The series will be thrilling, cinematic, and evocative of Batman's noir roots, while diving deeper into the psychology of these iconic characters. We cannot wait to share this new world."

Also cancelled in this latest wave are Merry Little Batman, The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie, Bye Bye Bunny: A Looney Tunes Musical, Did I Do That to The Holidays: A Steve Urkel Story, and The Amazing World of Gumball: The Movie.

These projects are just the latest to fall victim to HBO Max's continued shift in strategy that in recent weeks has seen numerous animated projects cancelled, removed from the streaming platform, or otherwise scrapped. Earlier today, it was reported that another animated original, Driftwood had been scrapped while last week, HBO Max announced it was removing shows like Close Enough, Aquaman: King of Atlantis, Infinity Train and numerous others.

"As we work toward bringing our content catalogs together under one platform, we will be making changes to the content offering available on both HBO Max and discovery+. That will include the removal of some content from both platforms," the company said in a statement obtained by Deadline at that time. "At the same time, we're already starting to bring our content catalogs together like the launch of the new CNN Originals Hub on discovery+ and a curated collection of Magnolia Network content coming soon to HBO Max."

This is a developing story…

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