Abandoned animated Batman projects

[The Laughing Fish]

I stumbled across this site over cancelled DC animated projects, including some concept art.

https://dcanimated.com//WF/sections/backstage/abandoned/

Here are some of the entries that caught my attention.

Out of all the projects, the one I wished went to production is No Man's Land. I understand that it's a much darker storyline than anything the DCAU could offer and WB Animation opted The Brave and the Bold as a safe bet. But I still think it's a shame it never got off the ground despite multiple attempts were made. I think a series of some sort is the best way to go for this type of story. NML is a storyline that covers a lot of material that could not be filled in a feature length animated film e.g. Helena Bertinelli, Cassandra Cain and Azrael character arcs, the moral argument between Batman and Leslie Thompkins surrounding an injured Zsasz, or any of the moral dilemmas Gordon, Montoya and Batman face daily as they're struggling to maintain control in a ruined city. And this isn't even taking the Cataclysm prelude into account.



Catwoman is another project that would've been fascinating to watch. Like Michelle Pfeiffer's Catwoman was believed to have her own spin-off following BR, the BTAS version would have her own show set in the DCAU. Again, it's too bad this didn't get off the ground either.

[Catwoman]

Holy crap. I love the World's Finest site (though the name changed since the last time I was there lol) but I had never seen that page before.

I remember the Gotham High stuff and as much as high school crap annoys me (too literal, like for instance I knew multiple girls who would have totally run for student body president on the premise of "I'm Hot, He's Not" and they probably would've won too) I was actually intrigued by it lol. I think it had already been shelved by the time I saw it anyway, though.

The Catwoman show would have absolutely been a yes for me (I'm sure that just shocks everyone). The JL with the lesser known heroes is an interesting idea, at least we got to see pretty much all of them in JLU. I loved the Question in particular.

[The Laughing Fish]

I always thought Gotham High was only an internet joke. I didn't realise it was pitched to WB Animation for real. I'm glad it got shelved, it was a silly idea.

[Catwoman]

I always thought Gotham High was only an internet joke. I didn't realise it was pitched to WB Animation for real. I'm glad it got shelved, it was a silly idea.

Sometimes silly can be fun!

[Travesty]

I always thought Gotham High was only an internet joke. I didn't realise it was pitched to WB Animation for real. I'm glad it got shelved, it was a silly idea.

That was almost a very real thing. I remember seeing a ton of artwork for it, and then they canceled it out of nowhere. I remember people being pretty interested in it.

[thecolorsblend]

I always thought Gotham High was only an internet joke. I didn't realise it was pitched to WB Animation for real. I'm glad it got shelved, it was a silly idea.

That was almost a very real thing. I remember seeing a ton of artwork for it, and then they canceled it out of nowhere. I remember people being pretty interested in it.

*whistles innocently while counting pocket change*

Srsly tho, I was in a mood for a lighter take on Batman around the time this show would've premiered. I thought it was good counter-programming to Nolan's films. Ultimately the Brave & The Bold accomplished something similar. So that's cool. And I wouldn't trade TB&TB for anything.

But I am curious about how things would've gone with this show.

It was around the beginning of the 2000's that TV networks began more aggressively pushing kids TV to be ABOUT kids. I'm guessing that was at least part of the impetus behind this Gotham High show. And probably even Batman Beyond, come to think of it. But anyway.

Yeah.

[The Laughing Fish]

According to Wikipedia (not the most reliable sources out there, I know), Batman: Arkham was meant to be the third animated movie installment in the DCAU after Mask of the Phantasm and Batman & Mr Freeze: SubZero, until it was scrapped in favour of Batman Beyond: The Return of the Joker. I bet the title of this planned film and its premise, together with Grant Morrison's Arkham Asylum comic, was the basis for the first Rocksteady Arkham video game.

Notice that the planned Elizabeth character resembled a lot like the actress Angie Harmon, who was supposed to voice her in the film. She ended up voicing an older Commissioner Barbara Gordon in Batman Beyond: The Return of the Joker.

[The Laughing Fish]

Back in 2016, Jay Oliva revealed he had plans to do a sequel to Batman: Assault on Arkham.

QUESTION: You said that you used the animation to test live-action ideas. Was that true in Assault on Arkham?

JAY OLIVA: Oh, yeah, of course. The fact that Assault on Arkham was so well received, I'm pretty sure, was a pretty good reason for them to say, "We should try Suicide Squad." I'm pretty sure that's what they were doing. Hopefully we can do a sequel to that, because I had an idea to do Assault on Arkham part 2, but I don't know. We'll see.

https://animesuperhero.com/nycc-2016-justice-league-dark-roundtables-jason-omara-james-tucker-jay-oliva-phil-bourassa-matt-ryan/

The closest thing to a sequel was Suicide Squad: Hell to Pay, which I thought it was alright. But Assault on Arkham is better upon rewatch.