Posted in: HBO, Movies, TV | Tagged: gotham, terence winter, the batman

Gotham City PD: Terence Winter on "The Batman" Spinoff Series Plans

Terence Winter (Tulsa King) offered details on his plans for the Gotham City PD spinoff from "The Batman" and why the series didn't happen.

Now that the smoke has cleared, we can safely say that Matt Reeves' "Bat-universe" includes The Batman, the currently airing spinoff series The Penguin, and The Batman 2. We're putting that out there because, over the past few years, the topic of spinoff series had become a bit of a confusing one. Earlier this summer, it was reported that writer, director, showrunner, and executive producer Antonio Campos' (HBO's The Staircase) Arkham Asylum series would not be moving forward – though a series focusing on the infamous institution was still open as an option in the future. Now, here's where the history lesson come in regarding a possible Gotham City PD series.

Back in 2022, Reeves confirmed that his previously-announced spinoff series focusing on Gotham City PD was on hold and that a series focusing on Arkham Asylum had "evolved" out of it. When Reeves' spinoff project was still focusing on the GCPD, Terence Winter (Boardwalk Empire, Tulsa King) was set to write and executive produce, but Winter would depart months later. From there, Joe Barton (Giri/Haji) was brought on to tackle the project, but Barton would depart the project when the focus shifted to Arkham Asylum. In October 2022, Campos boarded the project as its new writer, as well as to direct, serve as showrunner, and executive produce.

Checking in with The Playlist's Bingeworthy podcast, Winter offered some insights into his time working on the project – including some interesting details that leave us wanting to see the series even more than when it was first announced. "The idea was that we were going to do a 1970s cop show— something that felt like [Sidney Lumet's 1981 film] 'Prince of the City' but in the Gotham City Police Department," Winter revealed. "It was going to have that ['70s] feel. It was going to be a present-day cop who is like a third-generation Gotham City cop, you know, his grandfather, his dad, and, you know, and Gotham City was largely corrupt. And this is the guy we meet in the present day who's realizing that he's kind of on the wrong side. The Batman was somebody that lived in that world, but you never really saw him. And it was really all about the police department and sort of this guy."

Unfortunately, Winter noted that Reeves "wasn't feeling it" in terms of his approach to the series, leading to a parting of the way. "I worked on it for a while. And ultimately, you know, Matt wasn't feeling it. And I left; I know they brought in another guy after me. I can't remember his name, the guy who did 'Tokyo Vice.' He worked for a while on it, but that didn't go anywhere. I have no idea what he did. And then I read about 'The Penguin,'" Winter added. Still, there are no regrets or hard feelings.

"And, you know, that's great, good for them. Like I said, you know, it was Matt's idea originally, and, you know, more power to [him]. Sometimes, you're in sync creatively; sometimes, you're not. Or you get off on the wrong foot thinking, 'Oh, we should do this and go, Oh, you know what, this is just not really working,'" Winter shared. "Also, because there was 'Gotham,' the show 'Gotham' certainly took place in New York City, in the Gotham City Police Department, rather. [It] kind of stepped on the toes of our idea a little bit, even though ours was going to be totally very different. I think 'Penguin' is great. I agree with you. I think they did a great job."

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