HBO Max's orphaned Batman: Caped Crusader cartoon finds new home at Amazon

HBO Max’s rampage through its own catalogue of streaming content last year left a wide swathe of victims in its wake, in various states of miserable destruction. On the one hand, we have movies like Batgirl and Scoob: Holiday Haunt: Completed, or nearly completed, movies that got locked up in a vault somewhere, transformed through the magic of balance sheets from creative work into just so many tax write-offs. On the gentler side, we have projects that were merely orphaned, like Batman animated series Caped Crusader, a highly anticipated collaboration between The Batman director Matt Reeves, J.J. Abrams, and Batman: The Animated Series co-creator Bruce Timm. HBO Max made it clear, even in the midst of the bloodbath, that it wasn’t interested in killing the animated series: It just didn’t want it for itself.

Luckily, a kindly billionaire named Amazon has decided to take the series on as its ward, with THR reporting that the retail giant has scooped up the series for a two-season order. Amazon was one of several streamers who apparently bid on the series, which isn’t surprising, given the pedigree involved: Abrams is Abrams, Reeves is hot off reviving the Batman film franchise, and Timm is working with writers like celebrated comics author Ed Brubaker to bring this latest vision of Gotham City to life. Is it any wonder that Netflix, Apple, Hulu—pretty much everybody except the show’s own animation-hating parents—wanted a bite at this thing?

Deals are still being formalized, so there’s no word yet on when the series will pop up in its new palatial streaming home. No details on the actual content of the series, either, although the few visuals that have been handed out make it clear that Timm and company are interested in re-creating at least some of the look and feel of the beloved Batman: The Animated Series for a new streaming generation.