Credit: DC / Warner Bros.Batman on Amazon?
For decades, Batman and other DC superheroes have been synonymous with Warner Bros and Warner Bros Discovery. With the big streaming boom following Disney+, it only made sense that all Batman content would be released on Warner Bros’ streaming service, HBO Max, or currently, Max, but this new release reveals that’s not the case.
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Since the very beginning, Batman/Bruce Wayne has had broad appeal. Starting off like most superheroes in the comics, it wasn’t long before the Caped Crusader made his way to the big screen, having his first live-action appearance in 1943, then, of course, the 1966 television series with Adam West and Burt Ward, and their solo movie, Batman: The Movie (1966).
Though popularity sagged in the 1970s, Tim Burton, Michael Keaton, and Jack Nicholson resurrected the Dark Knight with Batman (1989). Bringing a darker tone to the once campy characters, the new movie and subsequent sequel breathed new life into the character, carrying him into the new century.
Over the years, Batman got progressively darker, more realistic, and more serious, but given the wide catalog, including the immensely popular Batman: The Animated Series, there has always been something for everyone when it comes to Batman, including this new movie that fans won’t be able to see on Max.
The Hollywood Reporter shared that a new project, the animated Batman film Merry Little Batman (2023) and subsequent spinoff Bat-Family, will not be released on Warner Bros’ own streaming service, Max, but instead, will be released on Amazon. This marks the second set of Batman-centric content being taken from Max and moved to Amazon, the first being the Batman: Caped Crusader series.
It begs the question: what is Warner Bros Discovery’s strategy here? There are many trains of thought: maybe they’re trying to get Batman in front of more eyes? Maybe they’re less confident in an animated Batman story than in the live-action offerings, or maybe the people in charge still want these projects to be made, but just on a different platform.
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As this decision rested primarily with Warner Bros Animation and not DC Studios, it’s not likely that James Gunn or Peter Safran had much say in the decision. If they had, the project would have likely stayed on Max, as Gunn already has plans for a DC Universe animated series, Creature Commandos, which was recently cast.
Whatever the case, for more animated Batman adventures, Batman fans will be looking for the Bat Signal on Amazon this time instead of Max. Not much is known about Merry Little Batman at this point, but audiences can expect a holiday-themed adventure in which a young Damian Wayne learns to step up and follow in his father’s footsteps to defend Wayne Manor from supervillains around the holidays.
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