HBO Max Planning More DC Comics Series for International Markets

WarnerMedia just announced massive plans for the future of HBO Max, revealing every 2021 film from [...]

By Joe Schmidt

WarnerMedia just announced massive plans for the future of HBO Max, revealing every 2021 film from Warner Bros. Pictures is set to debut on the streaming platform the same time they'll premiere in theaters; this includes the highly anticipated James Gunn DC Comics film The Suicide Squad. The streamer also has plans for future shows including Gotham Central and Green Lantern Corps, but it sounds like those plans will be expanding globally in the near future. A recent interview with Casey Bloys, the Chief Content Officer for HBO who recently expanded his reach to HBO Max, indicates that the new streamer will take a page from the Netflix playbook.

HBO Max has already taken on DC Universe shows like Doom Patrol, Harley Quinn, and Titans. They also announced new plans for The Suicide Squad spinoff Peacemaker, The Batman spinoff Gotham Central, and Green Lantern Corps, but there will be more in the works.

"We're also going to work to see DC content in other countries outside of the U.S.," explained Bloys at the Web Summit. He added, "One of the big themes of bringing HBO Max together was breaking down the silos between HBO, Warner Bros and TBS and TNT. I'd say one other silo was international."

This could be an attempt to copy Netflix's strategy as a major international powerhouse, as they have also had success creating content for specific regions. The sci-fi series Dark, produced in Germany, has earned critical acclaim and crossover appeal in the United States. Spanish shows such as Elite and Money Heist have also garnered similar praise. Netflix has also catered to different regions with reality TV offerings for shows like Nailed It, The Circle, Crazy Delicious, and more.

With HBO Max digging into DC Comics' deep library of iconic characters for international audiences, there's a lot more potential to take advantage of their strong fanbase. Using its diverse slate of heroes to cater to specific regions could prove fruitful in expanding the service's popularity.

"One of the things that we're going to do with Max is that all of our international productions will eventually live on Max and we're going to do a much better job of coordinating between all of the folks programming in Europe, Latin America and Asia so if there's anything that we're developing that has real cross-border appeal, we'll be able to highlight that," said Bloys.

What kind of international series would you want to see featuring DC Comics heroes? Be sure to let us know in the comments!

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