DC report card: ‘Constantine’ & ‘Green Lantern’ still a go at HBO Max, ‘Strange Adventures’ likely dead

The recent cancelation of Batgirl at HBO Max has purportedly not affected DC projects from Hollywood titans J.J. Abrams and Greg Berlanti.

Speaking with TVLine, a spokesperson for the Warner Bros. Discovery-owned streaming platform confirmed that Berlanti’s live-action Green Lantern Corps series is still “very much alive” and “definitely moving forward,” though it probably won’t premiere until 2024 at the earliest.

Finn Wittrock (a veteran of Ryan Murphy joints like American Horror Story: Freak Show and Ratched) boarded the show last year as Guy Gardner. Since then, however, there hasn’t been many developments for DC’s ring-bearing guardians of the galaxy, whose scripts will come courtesy of co-showrunners, Seth Grahame-Smith and Arrowverse alum Marc Guggenheim. Geoff Johns, Sarah Schechter, David Madden, and David Katzenberg are also attached as executive producers.

Meanwhile, Abrams’ “darker reboot” of paranormal investigator John Constantine is allegedly “on solid ground and moving along,” according to a new report from Deadline. The project — which falls under Bad Robot’s massive $500 million production deal that was struck prior to WB’s merger with Discovery — hails from writing green-horn, Guy Bolton. At this time, it’s unclear who will assume the trench-coat of Mr. Constantine and follow in the footsteps of Keanu Reeves and Matt Ryan. A version of the character can currently be seen in Netflix’s The Sandman, which stars Jenna Coleman as Johanna Constantine.

One DC-inspired effort that is not chugging along is Strange Adventures, confirms Deadline. The anthology, which would have been produced by Berlanti as well, could have served as an effective answer to Marvel Studios’ What If…? Creatives like Kevin Smith had already been tapped to develop standalone tales. During a recent podcast appearance, Smith revealed that he and Supergirl writer Eric Carrasco wanted to tell a story about Bizarro Superman with Nic Cage as the Man of Steel’s opposite reflection.

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Of course, HBO Max also has some DC projects already in the can and well into production still on the way, including the third season of animated hit Harley Quinn, and the next seasons of live action shows like Peacemaker, Doom Patrol and Titans. But beyond those already in-the-works seasons? No clue how long they might last.

Despite being deep into post-production, Batgirl and Scoob! Holiday Haunt were shelved as part of drastic cost-cutting measures put in place by Warner Bros. Discovery CEO, David Zaslav. Based on intel from those in the know, the studio can hold onto both titles and use them for tax write-off purposes.

“This idea of expensive films going direct to streaming — we can’t find an economic case for it, we can’t find an economic value to it, so we’re making a strategic shift,” Zaslav said last week (as reported by Variety). “We will fully embrace theatrical as we believe that creates interest and demand, provides a great marketing tailwind, and generates word-of-mouth buzz as films transition to streaming and beyond. We have a different view on the wisdom of releasing direct streaming films, and we have taken some aggressive steps to course correct the previous strategy.”

For a breakdown of all the DC-related content still on track at HBO Max, click here.

Looking for some sci-fi fun and adventure? Check out Battlestar Galactica, Heroes, Warehouse 13, Eureka, SYFY’s Resident Alien, Sliders, Intergalactic and more on Peacock now.

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