The Batman is getting an HBO Max tie-in show that is definitely not just Fox's Gotham

Fox’s Gotham gradually earned a reputation for being one of the most absurd TV shows on network television, and while that granted it a certain amount of entertainment value (and a begrudgingly loyal following), it did not exactly make good on the initial idea of it being an homage to Ed Brubaker and Greg Rucka’s very cool Gotham Central comics—which were basically like a Law & Order series about cops trying to do their jobs in a city where a guy dressed like a bat keeps getting into fights with a guy dressed like a clown. Now, though, it seems like Warner Bros. is taking another swing at that idea, with Deadline reporting a few days ago that HBO Max has picked up a new series about the police in Gotham City that will tie in with Matt Reeves’ upcoming The Batman.

The show will be written by Boardwalk Empire’s Terence Winter, and Deadline says it will “build upon the film’s examination of the anatomy of corruption in Gotham City” and will “further explore the myriad complex characters of Gotham.” Of course, that’s Gotham the place and not Gotham the show, since Gotham’s Bruce Wayne was David Mazouz and The Batman’s Bruce Wayne is a very pointy Robert Pattinson, but Deadline isn’t sure if anyone from the movie will actually show up—much like how The Avengers are always far too busy to appear on Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D.

It’s interesting to base so much of the pitch for this show on the way The Batman addresses corruption and its complex characters when nobody has seen the movie, and therefore nobody has a real concept of what the movie’s going to say or do, but it’s a Batman thing. We can safely guess that the cops are in bed with the mob, that everyone overlooks the danger of a place called Crime Alley, and nobody notices that the richest guy in the city has the exact same jawline as that masked vigilante.