With Warner Bros. looking to consolidate their comic book content under one roof following the announcement of several high-profile shows set to debut exclusively on HBO Max, questions are now being asked about what the future holds for DC Universe, the studio’s other streaming service that specializes in superhero stories.
Swamp Thing was canceled almost as soon as it hit the air, with The CW stepping in to pick up the rights to reruns, and there’s been rumors that the rest of DC Universe’s lineup could soon be heading to Warner Bros.’ in-house platform. While HBO Max are already co-producing Doom Patrol, the rights issues surrounding Titans make it an altogether trickier proposition.
A third season has already been announced, but with Netflix holding the international distribution rights, there’s little chance of the show becoming an HBO Max exclusive in the immediate future. That hasn’t stopped leading man Brenton Thwaites from setting his sights on much bigger things, though.
In a recent interview, the Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales star admitted that he took the role with one eye on playing Nightwing in the DCEU as part of the solo outing that The LEGO Movie‘s Chris McKay still remains attached to, but admitted that the chances of it happening are slim.
“When I signed on to Nightwing, I was inquiring about the film because I was originally inspired by Nolan’s Batman, and, in my brain, I imagined doing this amazing Nightwing film, and there was one floating around. There was a film floating around Warner Bros. for a while, but it was to be Ben Affleck’s Nightwing. I think the DC TV and movie worlds are still quite separate. This might be a chance for Matt Reeves, the director, and DC Films to integrate that somehow. I would love to do it, but I don’t think Titans is that property.”
Thwaites seems to have accepted that Titans isn’t going to lead to him suiting up on the big screen alongside the rest of the DCEU’s marquee names anytime soon, which is just as well because Nightwing remains one of the many DCEU movies that was announced and then swiftly forgotten, with McKay originally signing on in February 2017 with virtually nothing noteworthy to report on the project ever since then.