Two of the more high-profile original series in the works for the HBO Max streaming service are “Green Lantern” and “Justice League Dark,” shows produced by Greg Berlanti and J.J. Abrams respectively based on the famed DC Comics characters.
Berlanti of course is known for spearheading the DC TV universe on The CW with shows like “Arrow,” “The Flash” and “Legends of Tomorrow”. Those shows are limited by both network content constraints and budget in a way other recent DC TV series like “Titans” and “Swamp Thing” are not.
During an interview with Business Insider, HBO Max content chief Kevin Reilly offered a comment on both shows, saying they will have more in common with premium cable and streaming production values than network ones:
“Greg [Berlanti, who is producing a Green Lantern series for Max] has done a lot of really quality DC fare for The CW. These will not be that. These will be next step up in production value. You can expect the highest level of cinematic production values on those shows, and that’s the same for the projects we’ve announced with J.J. [Abrams].”
Reilly also asked about the DC Universe streaming service and what HBO Max means for their big original shows as, for now, only “Doom Patrol” seems to be making the jump to the new HBO. Will the others also transition over?
“There have been extensive discussions around DCU because DC is such a valuable entity to us and the depth of fandom is so important. So we really want to figure out how we walk this line for fans where we have a deep fan engagement, which is why DCU was designed, and a broader fan engagement.
That is evolving but there were high-end series that DCU produced that felt like, budgetarily, we could handle from a business model better, and bring along and service that swath of fans. ‘Doom Patrol’ was a show we identified that had deep love for it and tucked right into our portfolio.”
An HBO Max representative later clarified to the outlet that there are “no current plans for any other DCU show” to move to the platform.
