HBO Max Confirms Rotating Roster of Live-Action DC Films

Though HBO Max launched just days ago, the service is already preparing to remove a significant batch of live-action movies based on DC Comics characters from the service – at least temporarily. Tuesday afternoon, word began circulating online that most DC films would leave the service in July, as per certain verbiage on the service itself. ComicBook.com has since confirmed that those movies will, in fact, be leaving next month – but they’ll also return to the service at some point in the future.

The movies that will be leaving on July 1st include Justice League , Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice, Wonder Woman, Suicide Squad, Batman, Batman Returns, Batman Forever, Batman & Robin, Catwoman, Jonah Hex, and The Losers. The only movies remaining on the service past July 1st include Aquaman, Shazam!, Joker, Green Lantern, and Supergirl. It’s unclear which new movies will arrive as a part of the service’s rotating roster.

“We have a collection of DC films that will rotate on the platform. We have a new batch coming in July and then another batch coming in August,” an HBO Max spokesperson tells us. It’s unclear if the movies leaving July 1st are the ones returning in August or if they’ll return at a later date.

Sooner or later, one of those DC films that will be added is Zack Snyder’s Justice League, the official name the service has given to the Justice League Snyder Cut. Despite catering to a portion of the Justice League fanbase, HBO Max boss Tony Goncalves says the move to release the Snyder Cut shouldn’t set a precedent for other fabled director’s cuts of Hollywood.

“Look, definitely not a precedent,” Goncalves explained. “And you’re right. There’s different types of fandoms. There’s the fandom you just described, and there’s other fandoms. My reference to the fandoms is the fact that we’re in a space where consumers are loud. Consumers guide, and we absolutely have to listen as industry. I had a boss that once said, ‘Industry and consumers aren’t always aligned, but consumers do tend to win.’ It’s a fine balance. And I think when it comes to video, when it comes to entertainment, when it comes to content, consumers have never had more choice, and they’ve never had more of a voice. But that doesn’t mean that we will go and invest our dollars in every single fandom that exists.”

He added, “But I think the reference to the Snyder Cut and the Friends fandom is the fact that consumers are speaking, and we have to listen. It doesn’t mean that we’re going to go redo every movie ever made. But I think that we definitely have to have our ear to the ground. And I think we do. I just go back to look at the buzz that the Harry Potter library brought us yesterday. It was a wonderful surprise and delight. It’s because consumers are passionate about these franchises.”