Warner Bros. wasn’t making things easy on filmmakers making DC productions before James Gunn arrived, and it has now been reported that there was another Batman spinoff the studio cancelled after going into production. The most famous case came with the movie Batgirl, which had Michael Keaton reprise his role as Batman the year before he appeared in that same role in The Flash. However, after the film was finished and prepared for release, Warner Bros. shelved it to take a tax break on its losses. Now, there is news that another Batman spinoff was in production, but Warner Bros. cancelled this one after three months, instead of waiting until it was finished.
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ComicBookMovie.com reports that a Catwoman animated movie was in the works for HBO Max, and Warner Bros. cancelled it after three months in production. Not only that, but it appears that the filmmaking team is the same team making the upcoming Dynamic Duo movie for the DCU. The site has some quotes from a now-deleted interview, where Swaybox’s Arthur Mitnz said, “We were greenlit to make a project for HBO Max, a feature film based on Catwoman as a kid.”
Mitnz then said that this was stopped three months into production when CEO David Zaslav decided to slow down on the number of projects that WBD made for streaming. “He canceled 42 projects, including ours,” Mitnz said. This led to their signing on for Dynamic Duo. Mitnz said that Matt Reeves saw the Catwoman footage, and he showed it to Zaslav, who agreed they should work on something. Instead of a Catwoman prequel, it will be a prequel with Dick Grayson and Jason Todd.
The New Batman Spin-Off Should Make Catwoman’s Cancellation Worth It
The Catwoman movie would have been a fun project, as it was being made for kids and would focus on Catwoman as a child and show how she ended up where she did after growing up. However, the fact that the filmmakers got a chance to do something different makes this even more exciting. Seeing a movie about a young Dick Grayson and Jason Todd should be an even better story from DC animation, mainly since it will focus on how their different ideas for the future will eventually tear them apart.
Set for a 2028 release, Dynamic Duo will be the first Batman animated film from James Gunn’s DCU and will focus on the two Robins as they figure out a way to coexist while becoming their own versions of heroes. This will come after the 2026 Batman spinoff Clayface, a DC horror movie, and the 2027 release of The Batman Part II, which is Matt Reeves’ continuation of his Batman story. Gunn has also mentioned The Brave and the Bold, which would open up the Batman universe.
The one thing that is not clear is where Catwoman plays into things now. Zoë Kravitz as Selina Kyle is not likely to be back for The Batman Part II, and with the Catwoman spinoff cancelled, there is nothing in the future for the character. While introducing Dick Grayson and Jason Todd is exciting, Catwoman deserves her spot at the table as well, but DC fans will have to wait a little longer for that.
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