‘The Batman’ HBO Max Spinoff Series Loses Showrunner Terence Winter

HBO Max and Warner Bros. Television are going to have to find someone else to preside over Gotham P.D.

Terence Winter, who was in line to write and showrun the forthcoming spinoff series of Matt Reeves’ “The Batman” feature, has exited the project over creative differences, Variety has confirmed.

News of his departure comes five months after the show was handed a straight-to-series order at HBO Max. It also comes less than 24 hours after another Winter project came out of the woodwork in the form of a “Dial M For Murder” anthology series starring Alicia Vikander.

The untitled Gotham P.D. show will be set in the world Reeves is creating for the feature film, with the intent being to launch a new Batman universe across WarnerMedia multiple platforms. It is said to build on the film’s examination of the anatomy of corruption in Gotham City. It is the first project announced under Reeves’ new overall deal with Warner Bros. Television Group.

HBO Max and WBTV declined to comment on Winter’s exit.

Winter leaving the project represents a significant loss for the show given his prodigious track record of working on expansive, gritty crime dramas like “The Sopranos” and “Boardwalk Empire.” When the series order was announced, Reeves described working with Winter as “an absolute dream.”

“This is an amazing opportunity, not only to expand the vision of the world I am creating in the film, but to explore it in the kind of depth and detail that only a longform format can afford,” Reeves also said.

The Gotham P.D. series is one of a number of DC project currently in the pipeline at HBO Max, as the streamer is leaning heavily into the DC Comics IP controlled by parent company WarnerMedia. Of particular note is that James Gunn is working on a series spinoff of his “Suicide Squad” film with John Cena attached to star, and that J.J Abrams and his Bad Robot Productions are developing a “Justice League Dark” series for the streamer.

The Hollywood Reporter broke the Winter news.